《Umbral Feast》 Chapter 1

<~> Chapter 1 - Helena I wiped the sweat from my face as I got to the top of the last hill. My body was burning up despite the cool night air of late fall. I took a short breather when I got to the end of the hiking trail that overlooked the city. I turned around and took in the glittering city lights in the distance and retied my long black hair. I clicked my flashlight off and slipped it back into my purse so I could take in the view. This was my favorite spot in the entire city. It was pretty dark up here on the mountain but the trail was still open for another hour or so... give or take. Barely enough time for me to get back down before the park rangers gave me shit again. It''s worth it to be up here after sundown though, the city glow looked so magical from all the way up here. I stretched my sore muscles. Training for a triathlon is no joke but I''ve never been in better shape in my life and it was really starting to show, I looked over my lean and muscular body with pride. I sat down on a bench and thought about the progress I''ve made since I started training. I was starting to get kind of chubby after I lost my last job so I committed to getting back in shape by signing up for the city triathlon about six months ago. The training was grueling when I first got started but after a while, I got into the rhythm of it. I basically look like a completely different person now, I never thought I would be athletic enough to go jogging up mountain trails. The triathlon wasn''t for another two weeks but I was already sure I would be able to finish, I wouldn''t get my hopes up to place in the top ten percent or anything but part of me secretly thought I could do it. "Helena, you''ll never be able to run that thing! You''re just a fat chick." I thought back to what my cruel roommate said when I first told her. What a bitch. It did give me the motivation I needed early on though, it''s a bit funny to think that it was spite that got me through those first two weeks. I took a deep breath and stood back up. I didn''t want to leave yet but I didn''t have much more time to dawdle. I slipped my phone out of my shorts and peeked at the screen, 11:40. Yeahhhh, I wasn''t going to get back to the gate before the rangers gave me a hard time. I slipped my phone back into my pocket and pulled my little flashlight back out. I stretched my muscles and started to jog back down the slope. I couldn''t see all that much right now, it was a moonless night and while I could see the ranger station in the distance at the end of the trail, it didn''t give off enough light to see much without the flashlight. I had been going for about fifteen minutes when I first heard it. The loud growling stopped me in my tracks. I turned and looked around with my flashlight. If it was a coyote, it would be best not to try and run from it. I was better off scaring it away with the flashlight first. I was still panting from my run and the idea of fighting off a wild animal wasn''t helping me calm my breathing. I started yelling while trying to figure out where the growling was coming from. Even if I couldn''t see it, hopefully my yelling would scare it away before it decided to attack me, coyotes can be pretty skittish. My yell caught in my throat when I finally saw the thing that was growling at me. It was not a coyote. My flashlight was looking at the legs of a giant dog, No, some kind of wolf. I could barely see the thing, it had pitch-black fur and the only reason I noticed it at all was because of the shadows it cast behind it. It had come up from behind me. My heart was racing now as my flashlight traveled up the monster''s huge form and settled on its face. Giant eyes reflected the light back at me and long strands of drool fell from the creature''s snarled teeth to the ground below. I gasped and tried to slowly back away. Whatever this giant wolf was doing here, I doubted a little bit of yelling was going to do anything to scare it off. ...Maybe it was just protecting something, puppies maybe... I was better off just slowly backing away. A tight grip on my heart told me that it would chase me down if I tried to run. For a moment I thought it would let me go. It hadn''t stopped growling but it didn''t follow me as I backed away... at first. I had walked this trail maybe a hundred times by now. It was bumpy but there shouldn''t have been anything huge to trip over, yet I somehow managed to find one of the few loose rocks and fell onto my butt and rolled backward through the rocks and gravel. The moment I lost my footing my flashlight slipped out of my sweaty hands and rolled down the trail away from me. Those eyes. They didn''t stop glowing when my flashlight left its face. Bright white eyes in the darkness were still watching me. But only for a moment. The creature howled into the sky and before I knew it I was running. I don''t even remember scrambling to my feet but now I was sprinting as fast as my legs would take me. I couldn''t see anything other than the small park ranger station in the distance much too slowly getting closer. Pain blossomed in my right arm as the giant dagger-like teeth sunk into my flesh. I didn''t cry out in pain, no, I screamed and wailed my fist into the giant monster''s head instead. It felt like punching a concrete wall but I didn''t stop, adrenaline pumped through my veins as I tried to fight it off as hard as I could. I felt blood pouring out of my arm, it felt cold against my burning hot skin. Its piercing white eyes illuminated the monster''s head so I aimed my fist at one of those huge glowing eyes. A stray thought entered my head about being unable to feel the ground. I only processed that I heard the thing yelp after I realized I had been thrown through the air. I landed hard on my side and had the wind knocked out of me, the contents of my purse spilled out everywhere. Those white eyes still followed me but the left one had dimmed. The eyes raced over to attack me again as I rolled onto my back and without intending it, blocked the creature''s giant head with my arms while it tried to snap at my face. Stolen novel; please report. The wolf monster dug its giant teeth into my left arm but the pain didn''t even register, I reached around next to me, looking for anything that could do something to it. I found something hard and tried to bash it into the side of its head but the thing broke against its huge teeth. I reached around again and found a familiar handle. I flicked the snap and pulled my survival knife out of the sheath and tried to hack into the monster''s neck to get it off of me. More blood than I could have imagined sprayed onto my face and I suddenly felt like I was sinking into the ground. The hard surface under me disappeared and it felt like I was falling. The ground reasserted itself again hard. The air in my lungs was pushed out of me and blood poured all over me. There was so much blood that I was forced to swallow mouthfuls of it just to taste air again. My eyes burned as it got into my eyes and I coughed as I cleared out some of it that had gotten into my lungs. I was coughing, trying to clear my airway when something heavy landed on me and I was knocked out. *** It was pitch black when I woke up again. I could hear a trickle of water. Like a stream. My body hurt. Something was crushing me and I couldn''t see anything. I felt around and eventually realized what had fallen on me. The monster. ...I killed it? I tried to move my arms and legs, it didn''t feel like anything was broken. I could still move everything, my hands, my feet. But I felt like a giant bruise and it kind of hurt to breathe. I tried to push and twist my body to free my limbs so I could get better leverage but the thing on top of me was just too damn heavy. I was pinned under the corpse of the thing that tried to kill me. The bastard was going to get me even in death. I licked my lips and tasted blood. Who knows what kind of diseases I would get from drinking animal blood. I blinked my eyes and realized something. My face wasn''t covered by the monster, I just couldn''t see anything. It was pitch black here, there weren''t any city lights, my flashlight was gone, there was no sun. I listened to my surroundings. There was water and an echo. I was inside something? Had I been pushed into a cave? I didn''t think there were any caves anywhere near the hiking trail I was on, how did I get here? *** Time passed by. I had no idea how long I''d been pinned under this monster and had nothing to gauge it with. I still held out hope that someone would find me but it had been so long. The park rangers that gave me shit all the time would be able to pull this huge animal off of me. Someone would find my flashlight, my purse... me. Right? I was starting to feel nauseous and the world began to feel like it was spinning. It felt like I drank too much and was getting vertigo but there was nothing to look at to help stabilize myself. I took a deep breath, or at least as deep a breath I could take while pinned under this giant thing. I took inventory of myself. It felt like my right ribs and hip were bruised when I took that first fall. My right bicep hurt, no surprise there, the monster had bitten deeply into that, and my left forearm had deep wounds from when I tried to block my face. There was no way that wasn''t going to get infected if I didn''t get some treatment soon. My left ankle hurt, it doesn''t feel broken or sprained but the whole area feels swollen. I could feel scratches all over my body from when I rolled through the dirt and everything felt caked in blood, I wasn''t sure how much of it was my own though. On top of all of that, my entire body was sore like I had overexerted myself and all my muscles ached. Strangely, despite all the time that passed I wasn''t hungry or thirsty. I had been jogging and was out of breath when all of this started but I didn''t feel even remotely thirsty. Maybe it was all that blood I drank? I laughed at the thought. That would be ridiculous. My hands and shoulders were getting cold. I couldn''t do much about my shoulders but I dug my fingers into the fur of the giant wolf to try and warm them up. Despite being dead, this thing was warm like a blanket lying on top of me. After a while, I drifted to sleep. *** I woke from the splitting pain that rooted itself in my stomach. The moment my eyes opened I vomited to the side. Now that I was awake I felt sweaty and freezing at the same time. I must be feverish. Do I have rabies? Is that a symptom of rabies? God damn it am I going to die from rabies? Or would I starve to death under this giant monster first? I began to cry. I felt terrible. I felt broken and hurt. I''m drenched in sweat and I don''t know where I am. I can''t even see. I dry heaved, unable to get anything else out but the nausea remained. No, it got worse as time went on. I felt so cold, my body was burning up but I was shivering like I was sitting in ice water. Then the pain. It felt like hot needles were plunged into my bones. It started at my stomach and crawled up my spine, down my limbs, and eventually my head. When the pain got to my skull I screamed. Maybe I was already screaming before that. My eyes hurt so much now, it felt like hot pokers were being forced into them. If I hadn''t been pinned I probably would have tried to tear them out just to make the pain stop. It was too much. I couldn''t escape it. I begged for it to stop. I begged to pass out. I begged to die. But eventually, I blacked out. Chapter 2

<~> Chapter 2 When I woke there was a white glow on the ceiling. I reached up and wiped the dried tears from my eyes but flinched when my nails poked my face. I pulled back my hand and looked at it. Rather than the hand I expected, my hand, I found something large and dark. Giant claws came out of my fingers and ended in sharp points that shined in the light. My breath caught and everything that had happened came back to me. I looked down at the... once giant wolf that was lying atop me. It didn''t look so big anymore. I dragged the thing off of me and stood up. As I looked down at the monster something came over me, I felt ravenous. Unable to stop myself I tore into the monster, my giant fangs dug into the monster''s flesh and I ripped off large pieces of meat and swallowed them down. The thought of raw meat sounded disgusting but the taste of it was sublime. Eventually the hunger subsided and I cried at what I had done when I came back to my senses. When I fell back on my butt I had another wave of vertigo. I cradled my head in my hands until the feeling passed. Once the nausea subsided, I looked over at the corpse that was lying next to me. It was as big as it had been before. I struggled with my wounds and sore muscles but managed to stand up and take a closer look at it. It had been ripped open at the belly, large amounts of its meat had been ripped right off the bones and I could see giant teeth and claw marks against the shredded edges of the hide. It looks like it had been ripped apart by a giant animal... I touched my face in disbelief only to find... nothing. I looked at my hands again, finding the old hands I knew. I looked down at myself. I was naked and my body was caked in blood but I was... normal. I looked around at my surroundings. Like I thought I was in a large cave but I didn''t see anywhere on the ceiling I could have fallen through. Everything looked smooth and featureless. In the distance, I noticed a small river that was reflecting white light. That white glow made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I quickly looked all around me, desperately looking for another of the monsters. ...there was nothing here but me. I hesitated but decided to regain my bearings. On the ground were the ripped-up remains of my clothes. They were torn along the seams but were little more than bloody rags now. I picked up my phone that had been in my right pocket, the entire screen was smashed and it wouldn''t turn on. I was surprised to find my purse next to the monster too but it was mostly empty now. I slipped my broken phone into it before checking on what else was still inside. There was a little bit of makeup and my wallet had luckily stayed in its zippered pocket. That would be good, if I could find out where I was then at least I would have money to get a taxi or something. Assuming I didn''t get picked up for indecent exposure. The leather sheath my survival knife had been in was on the floor next to me too, that knife saved my life. I looked over at the corpse and found my knife still sticking out of its neck. With a little bit of effort, I was able to pull it free, it didn''t look any worse for wear. The knife managed to tear the monster''s throat open with its serrated edge on the back, that was where all that blood had come from, I must have hit something important and it all drained out onto me. I was really glad my dad had given me this gift the last time we went camping, he literally just saved my life. I cleaned the blade and put it back in its sheath but I kept the snap undone in case I needed to draw it quickly. I looked around but other than a few more things from my makeup bag, all I could find were the scraps of my ruined clothes. I looked at the remains of my bra, it had also been torn apart and there wouldn''t be any way I could fix it without a sewing kit and lots of work. Instead, I decided to tear it open and pull the underwire from it. I didn''t have much on me and a metal wire might come in handy. I wrapped it up and put it in my purse with the rest of what I found. Looking over my bicep, I found that the wound there had sealed up. I wasn''t sure how but it didn''t look as bad as I thought it was. The bite marks had scabbed over already and the skin looked red and purple but my arm wasn''t torn apart like I thought it would be. Though maybe I would have just bled to death if it had actually been that bad. I limped over to the water that ran through the cave, looking out for anything else that could be around. When I peered over the water''s surface I saw those eyes. I jumped back and spun around, looking for the other monster... but again, I didn''t see anything. I stood still for maybe ten minutes before I felt confident that there was nothing here with me. I peered back over the water and I realized what I was looking at. ...they were my eyes. MY eyes were glowing. Since the water was moving I couldn''t get a good look at myself but it was clear that it was my reflection that had glowing white eyes. ...maybe eating that monster hadn''t been a dream after all. Am I hallucinating? Am I going to turn into a monster? ...is that what happened earlier? I stepped away from the water and tried to calm down. I was hyperventilating, I think I was having a panic attack. I sat there for a while trying to take steady breaths, eventually, I felt okay enough to keep going. I looked down at myself. I was covered in blood from head to toe, it would be nice to wash off but I was worried I wouldn''t have anything to start a fire with. I also wasn''t sure if it was safe to start a fire in a cave like this. Maybe I could dip some of the rags in the water and clean myself with those. I tested the water with my hand and was surprised to find that it was pretty warm. Maybe washing myself in it wouldn''t be too bad, I could dry myself off with the rags instead. Before that... should I drink some of it? The water looks clear and spring water is supposed to be safe to drink. But it was moving through a hole in the cave so there was still a chance it could be unsafe from something upstream of me. You were supposed to boil water but I didn''t have any of the tools to do so, not even a canteen or water bottle to carry some with me. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. I decided I wouldn''t risk it for now. Maybe I would find something to boil water with later or find someone to help me before I got thirsty enough to risk it. I was already probably going to need antibiotics and a rabies shot when I made it back to civilization. But should I risk bathing in it? I decided against that too, I had too many open cuts and they could get infected if the water was bad, it was safer to wash myself off with a rag I think. I dipped the remains of my shorts in the water and cleaned myself off, the water felt nice and it felt good to wash away the crusty dried blood that was all over me. It took a while but eventually, I felt relatively clean again. I tied the remains of my shirt into a makeshift skirt. It wasn''t ideal but at least my bottom half would be covered for now. Even while wet it didn''t feel that cold in the cave anymore, I looked over myself to make sure I wasn''t growing fur or something. I still seemed normal. I looked over at the giant wolf in the corner again and decided I needed to get away from that thing. For all I knew it would attract other predators and I only saw one way out of here. I followed the stream to an opening in the cave but it just opened up into a different cave. These looked like natural tunnels, not just one hole in the side of the mountain like I had expected. I wasn''t even sure how long I had been here, I was in and out of consciousness when I was still pinned under the wolf. I grabbed a rock from the ground and tried to make a mark in the wall, just something to leave a trail. To my surprise, the rock cut deep into the stone, almost as if it had been made of clay. I touched the rock with my hand but was confused when it felt normal, like any other rock. I shook my head, this place is strange, I''m better off not worrying about that right now. I kept a hand on my survival knife and slowly made my way through the tunnels. I was still really sore so I wasn''t moving very fast but that suited me fine anyway, I didn''t want to draw attention to myself if there were other wolves around. I stopped to mark each of the walls I passed and left markings to track each direction I turned. I wasn''t a crazy survival buff or anything but I''ve seen enough of those survival shows to know it was a good idea to avoid getting lost. There was a noise. I stopped in my tracks, got low to the ground, and perked my ears. It was like a scratching noise but the echoes in the cave made it difficult to discern where the noise was coming from. I stood still in a crouch, hoping my glowing eyes wouldn''t attract any attention. I wasn''t sure if they were as bright as the monster''s had been but they let me see the entirety of most of the caverns I''ve entered in their entirety. Something turned the corner and covered its eyes with its little arm. My body shot forward like an uncoiled spring and my knife sunk deep in the creature''s chest before I even realized I had moved. The thing looked up at me with me with a confused look on its face, frozen in its death. I''m sure my own face shared its confusion until I realized I had killed it without thinking. I stepped back, the knife easily followed me while ripping chunks out of its chest, I gripped the knife tight in my hand as the corpse fell to the floor. For a split second I thought I had killed a child, but no. It was a short humanoid creature that wore only a brown loin cloth. It smelled awful as if it hadn''t bathed in weeks and its ugly green-brown skin was covered in muck and grime. It had an oversized head with bulbous eyes and a wide mouth filled with needle-like teeth. This thing was also some kind of monster. A yell rang out from my left, the awful noise sounded shrill to my ears. I turned to look and four other similar creatures that froze the moment I saw them. Their yells died in their throats as they looked at me like deer caught in headlights. I squeezed the handle of my knife. It felt light in my hands. The creatures spun around to run and something in my brain overrode all other thoughts. PREY My clawed hand squeezed around the neck of the closest one and broke it in an instant. I didn''t remember closing the gap. The others were still running. My knife plunged into the chest of the next one and I left it there for now, the monster was already dead. The next I slashed with my claws, my strong nails tore its body apart, bones and all. The last one''s blood filled my mouth as I bit deep into its torso. My jaws could almost fit the entire thing in my mouth. The taste was vile. Like black ichor that poisoned my tongue. I ripped its body in half and spit it away from me before stepping away to cough out the disgusting taste. I closed my eyes. When I opened them next I stood in the center of the tunnel once again covered in blood. This time the smell made my nose twitch in disgust and a horrible taste coated my tongue. The memory of swallowing the savory meat of the wolf didn''t even compare to the horrid taste of this disgusting creature. It began to dawn on me that something in me had changed. My mouth watered at the thought of that wolf creature''s meat. I looked at my hands. They looked normal again. The only thing that was left of the clawed hands was the blood on the tips of my otherwise normal looking nails. Another shrill yell and I saw another of the monsters charging at me with a makeshift spear. On reflex, my body twisted out of the way and my right fist punched it right in the face. With a sickening crunch, the body of the creature fell backward with a crushed skull. It was dead before it even hit the ground I gasped and stepped away from it, not expecting it to die with only a punch. I looked around for more of the creatures but didn''t see anything else. I picked up the creature''s spear, pulled my knife out of the other monster''s corpse, quickly wiped it down, and returned it to its sheath. With those two weapons in hand, I began to follow my marks back to the stream. I had to get this horrid taste out of my mouth. Chapter 3

<~> Chapter 3 The water tasted good, like bottled water. I drank my fill before pulling off my makeshift skirt and stepping into the stream. The bottom was a bit slippery but the stream wasn''t fast enough to push me over so I felt comfortable crouching down in it. The comfortably warm water pulled all the blood and grime off and made my sore muscles feel a lot better. After my experience with those creatures I decided to just take the risk with the water, I needed to clear that awful taste from my mouth and get all of this blood. After scrubbing myself off as best I could, I climbed out of the stream and sat against the wall facing the only entrance to the little cave I had originally found myself in. The corpse of the monster was still here, untouched from the last time I left it. It had only been a few hours since I woke up here but I was already feeling a lot better. The heavy bruising that had been on my side was already fading away and the bite mark on my bicep was already almost gone. Something was happening to me. Something already had happened to me. I looked at myself in the flowing stream, my glowing white eyes reflected back at me and I thought back to the mountainside. I have its eyes now. I have the eyes of a monster, a predator. When those creatures saw my eyes they ran... and I chased them. I don''t know where I am. I mean more than just being in a cave, this place is completely different. Creatures I''d never seen before, tunnels dug through soft stone, giant wolves with glowing white eyes... short monsters with needle-like teeth that carried weapons like people. I tore them apart with my clawed hands... and I tried to eat that one. I may have eaten them all if they hadn''t tasted so disgusting... My eyes trailed back to the remains of the wolf in the corner and my mouth began to water. I could almost taste that delicious meat. I tore my eyes away from it and closed them. I took deep breaths and tried to relax, calm my mind, clear my head. It didn''t work. I got up and walked over to the wolf monster''s body. The meat exposed to the air had changed color a little but it still smelled appetizing to my nose. I hesitated for only a moment before reaching my hand out and ripping a piece of meat from its body. My hand changed shape before my eyes as if transforming to encourage me further. My hand and claws were pitch black and swirled like smoke. I pulled the meat to my mouth and found that it too had shifted into the jaws of a wolf. I bit down and the flavor pleased my senses, it filled me with renewed confidence as I leaned forward and allowed myself to eat the flesh like a beast. Before long I was crouching down over my meal, my body had grown large again, allowing me to better tear pieces off and pull the bones free. I tore through the meat, ripping the satisfying chunks from the carcass and eating them whole. When I reached its heart I bit into it and felt reinvigorated, the taste made my body shiver in delight and it pushed me to go even further and pick the dead wolf''s bones clean. Eventually, I had eaten all the edible meat I could find and felt satisfied. I loped over to the water and took another drink from the stream before plopping down next to it and resting my eyes. *** I woke with a start and looked around wildly. The memories returned and I realized where I was. I was still lost in the caves. I rubbed my face with my hands and looked around the room. In dead monster in the corner was now only bones and hide. I had eaten everything else... Damn, I let myself fall asleep out in the open. What if one of those things snuck up on me while I was defenseless? I looked over my wounds and found that my body had almost entirely healed up. All that was left of my torn bicep were pale scars where the teeth marks had been. My bruised ribs and ankles didn''t hurt anymore and I couldn''t even find any discoloration. It had been less than two days... I think... but even if it had been longer, I shouldn''t be in this good of shape already. I sighed and chalked it up to the changes I was going through. After a quick stretch, I walked over to the remains. I looked at what was left of it. If I hadn''t eaten it myself I would have probably been more disgusted but... not a single regret filled me. In my fugue, I had avoided the stomach, bladder, and colon. I had pulled them out and placed them against the wall. I also piled up the bones and put them on the other side, leaving the inside skin of the wolf wide open. It was torn at the edges where my claws had ripped into it but it was still mostly in one piece. The hide still had a slimy coating on the inside though. I didn''t know much about handling animal hides but I knew you were supposed to remove this gross stuff on the inside. I had no idea what you were supposed to treat animal hide with to preserve it though. I don''t think I can do anything with this without knowing more about tanning. I tapped the floor, it was made from solid rock just like the ceiling and walls. I wanted to get rid of the bladder and stomach before they opened and started to rot but I didn''t know where to take them... I could leave them by the corpses of those other monsters I had slain, they were going to smell anyway. I washed myself off in the stream again and packed my knife in my purse. ...My claws would probably be enough for whatever I came across. I wanted to take the creature''s makeshift spear with me at least but my hands would be full. I reached out to grab the remaining entrails and my hands seamlessly shifted into black shadowy claws. I picked them up and avoided touching anything with them. If I came across another monster I would probably just throw them at whatever I came across. While my senses told me this wasn''t safe to eat I didn''t feel disgusted by holding them the way I felt like I should. This felt normal like I was cleaning my den... er, room. I think whatever was happening to me was doing more than changing my body, it was also affecting my mind. That was a bitter pill to swallow. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I shook the thought out of my head and continued down the path I had made by carving the walls. The first mark looked strange so I took a closer look at it. This was the first mark I had made so I clearly remember what it looked like, the mark wasn''t as deep anymore and the edges weren''t as sharp. It was like the scratches I had made in the stone were healing. I checked the other grooves I had cut into the stone on the way back to those creatures and all of them looked the same. I would have to make new marks if I wanted to continue using them to track the direction I was going. I didn''t want to get lost in this maze of a cave system. When I turned the corner I saw some kind of creature eating the disgusting bodies of those creatures. Scavengers! I threw the entrails at the thing and dashed at giant snake-like creatures. There were three of them, each had a long tube-like body with four tentacles in place of a head. At the base of where the tentacles met their body was a large hooked beak that looked sharp and dangerous. My claws rent the first one apart in an instant and its blood mixed with the disgusting contents of the organs I had thrown at it. The monsters shrunk in front of my eyes and the large cave became cramped as I shifted. With my new size, I was able to grab both of the other snake monsters and slice their heads from their necks without even letting them go. Before I could stop myself I pulled the one in my left hand up to my face and bit into it. Delicious I dropped the other one and carefully pulled the snake apart with my claws, peeling the meat from the bones and avoiding the snake''s ichor-filled stomach. If I hadn''t wanted to eat those other creatures the last time, I wouldn''t want to eat them out of this snake''s stomach either. I avoided the organs this time, they didn''t appeal to me so I set them aside. Once I finished the first one I ate the second. The one I had thrown the entrails at wasn''t worth eating... It was mixed with disgusting fluids that I didn''t want to look at, I just left that one there. I didn''t change back to my normal form automatically this time so I looked over myself. I was bigger, much bigger. I was around one and a half times my original height of 5''10". I couldn''t tell exactly but that would make me around 8 or 9 foot-tall at least. I was hunched forward, not quite on all fours but I could comfortably pad around that way too if I wanted. I felt like I had better balance than normal and I could easily switch between moving upright or on my hands and feet with only minor effort. My feet looked like giant dog feet in this form, with thinner ankles that ended in large paws. My hands were a bit more in between the two. They looked animalistic, with large claws made of the black smoke I had become accustomed to but with flat palms and opposable thumbs. They felt a bit awkward but I would be able to grab and manipulate things like this without any problems. My entire body was covered in the black smoky texture but it felt solid to the touch. It didn''t feel entirely like fur though and the spots that would normally end in tufts left small trails of the smoke that slid off me before dissipating. My breasts were hidden in this form and I couldn''t see any nipples or visible genitalia at all, which was reassuring. I don''t know how my new instincts would handle something like that and the thought made me shudder in revulsion. I looked around. In this form, all of my senses felt clearer and my eyes looked brighter. I didn''t have any trouble seeing in the dark before because of my eyes but now everything was brightly illuminated. Even in the spots where wet parts of the walls reflected light back at me I wasn''t blinded by the bright reflections, my eyes were made for seeing in this bright glowing light. It made me wonder what that wolf thinking when I shined my flashlight at it. While testing my new senses and looking around I noticed a bundle next to one of those humanoid monsters I hadn''t noticed before. I was curious and wanted to get a closer look at it but I was too large to move around the cave like this. I took a breath and tried to shift back down to my normal shape. I didn''t know what I was trying to do at first but after a little bit of time something clicked and my body started to shrink. The feeling was uncomfortable, it felt like the feeling you get when you drop on one of those tall fair rides. Vertigo associated with heights was the closest thing I could compare it to. The uncomfortable feeling in my stomach mostly went away when I returned to my normal form but it left a lingering discomfort, like I was slightly dizzy. It wasn''t that bad so I ignored it for now and went over to look at the bundle. It looked like a handmade satchel, it stunk like those awful creatures but it was tightly tied closed with a knot that wouldn''t budge. There were small little cut marks where the monsters had unsuccessfully tried to cut open the leather. The thing smelled bad and was torn and slashed in places so I decided I would rather have whatever was inside rather than trying to preserve it as a bag. I felt bad for whoever spent so much time making the satchel but I was still in survival mode. I took my survival knife out and worked the serrated edge against the base of the knot. These things clearly weren''t very smart, the places they tried to cut wouldn''t have even gotten the thing open. With a little bit of effort, I was able to cut all the way through the cord and I pulled the bag open. I wasn''t sure what I had expected to find but it wasn''t a large pile of silk fabric. I wiped off my hands and pulled the fabric out to examine it. It felt smooth and cool like silk but it was as stretchy as elastic. I was excited, It wouldn''t be as good as real clothes but at least I wouldn''t have to go around with my boobs hanging out anymore. I wondered if the stretchy material would be enough to survive shifting, I better not push my luck. I wrapped the silk around my chest and tied it with a loose knot that would be easy to pull apart if I needed to. Hopefully, if I transformed again without realizing it, the knot would come undone before the nice fabric tore. I stood up and tested the fit, the loops of fabric around my chest held it in place and kept my breasts from moving around too much. This would make getting around easier and I wouldn''t need to worry as much about running into someone mostly naked. There were still a few more bits of fabric in the satchel along with a crude-looking sewing kit. It looked handmade and the needles were made from bone rather than metal. I put the sewing kit in my purse and fashioned a loincloth out of the remaining silky material, it was a little crude but it was better than the makeshift skirt I had made out of my torn t-shirt. At least I felt like I was wearing underwear again, I didn''t enjoy the breezy feeling I had been forced to endure since I fell into this hole. I looked over myself, happy to finally feel clothed again and full from my... meal. I still had some energy left so I started to head back in the direction of my last turn, I wanted to explore a different path and see if I could find something new. Hopefully, a different path wouldn''t have any of those gross monsters. I shifted my hands into claws and dug into the soft stone, I didn''t want the marks I had previously made to completely disappear. This place was strange but I still had hope I would find my way out of here. As strange and alien as everything was, I was feeling optimistic I would be able to survive it. I didn''t give up while training for that triathlon and I wasn''t going to give up now. I will survive. Chapter 4

<~> Chapter 4 I spent the next few hours searching down every path I could reach but I mostly found dead ends or tunnels that went up at such steep angles that I couldn''t continue. I didn''t run into any more of those gross humanoid creatures or any of those delicious but weird looking scavengers either. This place was mostly empty. I had explored most of the paths that surrounded my stream but I had been searching for hours before I found one that took me farther away from my little den. The tunnel opened up into a huge cavern with glowing moss on the walls. For the first time since I fell down here, I could smell fresh air. There was a large hole in the ceiling hundreds of feet up that let moonlight reflect on the inside lake that pooled under it. It was at this moment that things really sunk in for me. I had to be somewhere else. It was too cold out, not the 80-degree nights I was used to in the desert this time of year. I walked toward the lake and looked up at the moon through the hole in the ceiling. It was an odd moon. It was the same color and size but after looking at the moon I was used to countless times, it was obvious in an instant that the pattern on the moon''s face was different. Well Helena, you''re not in Kansas anymore. I smiled sadly at my own joke. I looked around and noticed the top of the lake was placid. Unlike my stream, the lake was perfectly smooth and reflected the ceiling and moonlight like a mirror. I walked closer to the lake and finally took a good look at myself. I looked the same but also very different. My eyes glowed a ghastly bright white that gave me an eerie look, reminiscent of the wolf that had tried to kill me. I hadn''t noticed this earlier but I looked much more built than I had before too. I had gotten a much leaner body after training so much but now my body was muscular. I look strong now, like an MMA fighter or something. The changes weren''t so pronounced that I didn''t look feminine anymore but I was starting to get there. I was approaching the kind of musculature that would be hard to maintain without a very strict diet and/or steroids. What kind of caught me off guard though was my face. Despite the lack of shampoo or makeup, I looked prettier and healthier. If it wasn''t for my creepy glowing eyes I would be a knockout now. A knockout that could knock you out. I giggled at my dumb joke. Should I? I took a deep breath and reached out for that feeling that let me change. It took hold and I felt my body growing. I watched myself in the lake as my body shifted. My body became covered in black smoke as my body grew larger. The smoke formed the head of a wolf and gave me a form somewhere between a biped and an animal. My claws grew out, my legs bent backward, and I grew a tail. When the transformation was complete I looked like a spitting image of the wolf that had tried to kill me. The only difference between us was the way my hands were shaped and my legs that allowed me to stand up like a werewolf. I stepped away from the lake unsure how to feel. I felt powerful but different. The instincts in me made me want to Fight, dominate, feast. The human part of me almost wanted to reject my new body... but there was also a small part, deep inside, that was happy to be something bigger. Stronger. With a sigh, I shifted back to my normal form and I suddenly realized that I never removed the fabric when I shifted, it had just disappeared. I was relieved to find that it hadn''t been destroyed and didn''t seem any worse for wear. Back in my... more normal form, the fabric felt comfortable and didn''t even feel stretched out. My makeshift loincloth also felt perfectly fine. Despite changing in size all the time I wouldn''t have to worry about my clothes ripping off, they just vanished whenever I shifted somehow. I wonder why it had happened to the clothes I was wearing and not before? I looked around the lake. There were lots of other passages that branched off from here, so many that I was worried that I would get confused if I didn''t go back to mark the opening I had come out of. After going back and thoroughly marking the edges of the one that led back to my den, I headed over to one of the other passageways. The stone seemed especially smooth here as I walked through the first passage to the right of the lake. It felt cool to the touch like it was refrigerated. I was mostly naked but the cold air coming from the passageway felt kind of nice against my skin, it was like the feeling of stepping out of the bathroom after an especially hot shower. If it got too cold I would turn back, for now, it felt comfortable enough. As I walked through the caves I heard something strange, like liquid pouring against the stone. Not a river, something slow. I crouched down and made my way closer to what I was hearing. I peeked around the corner and saw giant blue salamanders pouring clear blue mucus out of their mouths and onto the stone. The sight might have been gross to me before but I admit that my first reaction was to swallow down the saliva that was forming in my mouth while looking at them. They looked tasty. I noticed the tunnel becoming more cramped before I realized that I had shifted again. My larger body was now crouched down as I peered around the corner. I don''t know what I was waiting for, but I remained still and watched. The monsters were spreading out their mucus across the stone causing frost and mist to spray up from it. The air in the tunnel became more cold as the mucus pooled out under them. A more rational part of my brain told me that these things might be dangerous, their spit looks freezing cold. But the predator in me said they were weak and they would taste good. There were four of them, each of them only a bit smaller than I was in my larger form. They crawled on all fours and looked like they were coated in that same frosty mucus, they each had slightly different patterns on their skin, a mixture of light blue and white with black stripes. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. One of the icy salamanders turned and finally noticed me. It started to squawk out a strange sound that I wouldn''t have associated with reptiles. That was all the signal I needed. IT WAS TIME TO HUNT. I bolted over to the closest of them and tried to dig my claws into its neck. The monster''s skin was slippery and it managed to slide out from under my claws before it could gouge in. The mucus felt cold but my heart was now pumping with so much adrenaline that it barely registered. I would need to be wary of getting coated too much but just a few touches wouldn''t harm me. The two salamanders farthest away from me tried to run and the thought of letting them escape made my hackles rise. I was strong enough to fight all of them at once, I wouldn''t let them flee. I bolted around the ones closest to me and pounced on the one farthest away from where I started, my fangs dug deep into its neck and I broke it with a snap. A deluge of frost doused the side of my body as the other salamander sprayed me with its liquid ice. I jumped away from the corpse and around the one attacking me. A slice of my claws split its head into ribbons, the things were much more fragile than I expected. The moment I stopped to slash at the second the other two both tried to spray their cold at me in tandem. I grabbed the neck of the one I had just killed and flung it at the others. The corpse slammed against one of them and knocked it on its back. Before that one could recover I leaped at the only one standing, it was still continuing to try and freeze me. I felt the ice-cold liquid painfully freezing my shoulder as I tried to circle it. I stayed low and kept my head out of the stream of frost before snapping up at the salamander''s neck and biting right through. Cold blood painted my other side as I rushed to the last of the living salamanders. It had barely managed to get back to its feet before I was on it again, this was the one that had spotted me originally. As it turned to face me again I was already on top of it, I flipped it right onto its back again and tore into the soft flesh of its belly. Something inside me told me to eat its heart. I swallowed the delicious meat in large bites while tearing through its chest to find my quarry. At last, I found it. I ripped out the creature''s large throat muscles that were in my way and tossed them to the side before biting into its frozen cold heart. Pleasure rushed through me as the cold feeling of the mucus faded away. It was like I could feel myself getting stronger as I took bite after bite of the salamander''s flesh. My mind faded into the background as I reveled in the satisfaction I got from my feast. Time passed in a haze as I finished eating all of the salamanders. My strong desire for its heart had passed after eating the first of them. The rest I avoided with all of the other organ meat, my instincts didn''t care for it anymore. When I finally pulled away I was fully satisfied again. They had been the best things I had tasted so far. Even better than the remains of the wolf I had eaten in my den. I was sleepy and stuffed full but I knew this place wasn''t safe to sleep in. I made my way back the way I had come and found the opening that led back to where I felt safest. My little den by the stream had the least number of monsters and I felt safer taking a dip in the small stream rather than in the big lake. I shook off the remains of the cold mucus, only realizing I had done so like a dog once I had finished. With a grimace, I shifted myself back. I let my instincts get the better of me again. I shook my head. The instincts were so powerful and consuming. Especially when in the heat of battle and after, it''s hard to fight against them. Then again, I haven''t found anything else to eat in this place and the creatures I''ve eaten have been nourishing... and they taste so good. Most of them anyway. I was feeling better and stronger every day that I''ve been here. If I was hesitant to eat I would only be wasting away instead. It still made me feel like an animal though. Like something that wasn''t in control of their own mind and followed every impulse without question. What if my instincts told me to take something on that I couldn''t win against, or eat something that made me sick? ...They haven''t lied to me yet but I should at least be in control enough to make the choice right? After walking back to my little stream I shifted back, slipped out of my clothes, and dipped myself into the water. I wasn''t covered in blood this time thankfully but the warm water felt pleasant against my body and it was starting to become a small ritual after my trips through the caves. The warm water focused me and let me process everything that was happening. I need to be in control of my own thoughts. I thought back to a yoga class I had taken in high school, it was just an elective to fill out my schedule but I ended up enjoying the class. My teacher had tried to teach us to meditate but it wasn''t something that resonated with me at the time. Perhaps now it would help me gain some control over myself, help balance me out. I slipped out of the stream and got dressed in my silk coverings again. I leaned against the wall and stared at the opening of my little den. I took a breath and listened to my body. I cleared all of my thoughts and just focused on every breath in... and out... I sat there for a while just focusing on my breathing, getting myself back on track as soon as my mind began to wander. In... and out... After a while I started to feel tired so I shifted back to my wolfy form and laid down facing the opening. If one of those monsters came in and saw me like this, perhaps they would think twice about disturbing me. If something did try to attack me in my sleep, it would be easier to protect myself this way. I closed my eyes and slept for the third time since getting lost in these tunnels. Chapter 5

<~> Chapter 5 - Maxwell This trip into the dungeon was going to absolute shit. The guy we brought with us had been a complete moron and gotten himself killed. It was hard enough to find party members for our weird group but this was going to make things even worse. I held the torch over his body so my sister could look over him. Piper stepped away from his body and shook her head. "He''s dead. Poison." I looked down at our dead scout. He was covered in small scratches all over from the goblins. The idiot kept trying to ''protect'' our healer, Piper. He did this by jumping in the way of every knife, spear, and hook the dumb creatures threw at us rather than just killing the damn things and letting Piper take care of herself. It looked like he was trying to get into her pants more than actually survive this dive. I guess I understood his thought process but my sister carried a sword and shield for a reason. She''s our healer sure but she''s also an experienced swordswoman, clearly more than this idiot. ("I''m sorry Max... It''s my fault we have such a hard time finding party members...") I turned to look at Luna before letting out a sigh. "It''s not your fault, we''re just working with what we''ve got." Her large fox ears stayed back but she nodded. Luna always blamed herself for everything, ever since we left the village together two years ago. It''s not her fault she had a shitty father that did that to her. I glanced at the scars on her throat. They had been so damaged that Piper wasn''t able to heal them right and now Luna could barely speak. Instead, we have to use these stupid rings. I glanced down at the silver band on my index finger. These rings were both my best friend''s savior and her albatross. I grabbed his hunter tags and pulled the matching silver band from the dead man''s finger, handing it to Luna. "Hold onto the spare." She nodded and accepted the ring. I picked up his pack, it was light, did the guy even bring enough rations for this trip? We were supposed to spend another week in here at least. I don''t think we can stay on this floor for much longer without him. The goblins here are crafty, they build tools and bombs. And apparently poison... That was a new one, not something in the guidebook otherwise I would have brought some medicinal antidotes along. This guy was getting hurt so often that Piper''s mana was constantly tapped out, she wasn''t able to heal him through it this time. "We''re going to have to go back up... at least two floors." Piper pulled a lock of her red hair out of her face. "I can''t believe this shit." "I know but it doesn''t matter now. This floor is too dangerous for the three of us alone." One of the goblins screeched and all of us jumped back to readiness. Piper and I formed up next to each other with our shields held ready while Luna began to cast. Four goblins rushed at us with daggers but the two of us pushed them back when they got close. There were two in the back, one was holding a rope and the other a makeshift spear. They were waiting for an opportunity to grab us when we were too tangled up to notice them. We''ve fought enough goblins to be aware of most of their tricks by now though. Piper and I just held them there, not letting them past us while Luna finished charging her magic. She took a bit longer because she couldn''t chant but that was okay, we were used to it. She more than made up for it in firepower. A large magic circle spread out on the floor and a heartbeat later the room filled with magic fire that caught onto the goblin''s skin. The fire didn''t burn anything else, instead, it stuck to them close and enveloped them in flames directly. It was a little overkill maybe but it took out all six of the goblins in short order. We couldn''t afford to use this magic in every fight, but this was a decent way to deal with groups when Luna had the mana for it. The goblins fell over and the magic burned itself out. I picked up the rope one of them had been carrying and sniffed it. It didn''t smell great but it was decent enough. There''s not a lot you can scrounge from goblins but the amount of magic you gain from killing them makes them more than worth hunting. It was one of the safer ways to get more powerful. Most of the time anyway. I spared a glance at the dead guy. I pushed the rope into the spare backpack and stood up. "Alright, we need to make our way back to the stairway up. Let''s go." We walked back in silence. The rings cost mana to use so we can only really use them when it''s necessary, I don''t have a lot of mana in the first place and Piper needs to keep as much mana as she can get for healing, her regeneration isn''t as good as Luna''s. She was the only one of us who could afford to regularly receive messages but at that point, we might as well speak to her out loud. It meant that inside of the dungeon we had to be reserved in our conversations with her, it wasn''t a great solution but it was the best we could do. It was sad but entire days could pass by without hearing her voice once. It was even worse before we bought the rings. "Bro, there''s something up ahead." In response to Piper''s voice, we all got low to the ground. The goblins were crafty but this area shouldn''t have many of them. "Let me go first, I''ll take a look," I whispered. I crept forward down the tunnel. I peeked around the corner and did not like what I saw. Unfortunately, it was the way we were supposed to go. I stood up and waved them over. "The hell?" Piper looked around the carnage. Six dead goblins were spread out in the little room. Three of them were mostly intact with small but lethal wounds, one''s head was torn open with large claws, one''s skull was crushed in, and the last one was in two pieces, the top half of it had been thrown at the wall. There were also the remains of a few dungeon tunnelers, mostly harmless things that ate dead bodies and carved out new tunnels on this floor. In the middle of the room was a pile of shit and piss from a monster marking its territory. But it was the huge claw marks in the wall that freaked me out the most. I pointed the marks out to my party. "Those claw marks are from an umber hound. Those aren''t supposed to be on this floor. They''re also recent or the stone would have healed itself by now. We''re going to have to go around, an umber hound would kill all of us in a single breath. We can''t risk going into its territory." "Wait, isn''t this supposed to be the passage to the lake?" Piper asked. I nodded. "Unfortunately. We''ll have to go deeper into the goblin ruins and make our way through there to get to the lake. I''d bet on goblins over an umber hound any day of the week. We can''t afford to get spotted by one." Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ("Is it safe to be this close to it''s territory?") Luna asked. I pointed at the droppings. "That''s a warning, unless the thing is hunting, it''ll leave us alone as long as we don''t enter its territory. ...If it is hunting then we''d be screwed anyway." "Ehhh, let''s not risk it and turn back. I''ve never heard of an umber hound but I''ve also never seen you act this serious before," Piper said. We started heading back in the opposite direction. It felt like the string of bad luck was really starting to pile up now. I clenched my fist. Every step of the way things were getting worse and worse. An umber hound on the 16th floor? That should be impossible. I''ll have to make a report to the association... if they''ll even believe me. We came across another goblin but Piper was quick to kill it before it made any noise. We couldn''t afford to get into too many fights so close to the goblin ruins. I patted my sister on the shoulder and she nodded at me with a smile. I glanced back at Luna to make sure she was still with us and she was there. Good. We made our way through the ruins as quietly as we could. There were goblins everywhere, this was their home turf. It was possible to eradicate them here but only for a short while, given enough time the dungeon would repopulate this area with the ugly creatures. No one knew why the dungeons behaved this way but it was because of this that the dungeon city was able to make so much money from monster materials. We almost made it through the ruins without getting caught. A goblin landed right in front of us and screamed as it hit the ground, pushed off the roof by one of the other creatures as a sick joke. When the others came to look at the macabre antic we were caught, surrounded by the bastards. "RUN!" I yelled out. I pulled up my shield and bashed one of the goblins out of our path. I glanced back to see Luna and Piper right behind me so I kept plowing forward. We were caught near the end of the ruins so it would only be a short run towards the lake. An off-key horn sounded and with it horrible yells and chanting spread throughout the ruins. We had woken up the entire horde of goblins. I hacked through one of the goblins in my way and pushed another to the ground where Piper was quick to behead it with her sword. A fire arrow flew over my shoulder and sparked into a large area in front of us, clearing the way ahead. I glanced back at Luna again, glad to see she was keeping up despite charging her magic during our escape. Finally the tunnel came into view but one of the larger hobgoblins was guarding it. The horn blew again and the goblins were closing in. "Luna! Hobgoblin! Piper! Help me keep them off while she charges!" "Got it, bro!" The two of us formed around Luna while she mouthed the incantation silently. A little bit more money and she would be able to get a mage to teach her how to cast without chanting at all and speed her back up to normal levels, assuming we could afford it after our payment on the rings. I bashed in the skull of one of the goblins and stabbed another but I was careless and took a slash from its dagger. If that was poisoned too I might be joining that idiot today. It was starting to look more and more like we would all die here. An explosion shook the tunnels as the bottom half of the hobgoblin fell over. Luna''s magic had vaporized the top half of the monster entirely, clearing the path to the tunnel for us. Piper rushed into the tunnel first, shield up and ready to push through. Luna followed and small sparks of magic sprayed the faces of the goblins around me. The sparks wouldn''t do much to hurt them but they gave me plenty of time to get to the tunnel and cover our retreat. I could smell the cool air of the lake as we walked backward through the tunnel, holding off the goblins in the narrow corridor. Now that we were here, now what? Getting into an open area would help Luna''s magic but how would we avoid getting surrounded? Perhaps my best bet would be to try and hold them at the mouth of the tunnel. I heard another horn blow and before I realized what was happening I was thrown on my back. Another large hobgoblin had barreled through the tunnel and knocked me backward. Now that the goblins were pouring through, any hope of holding them here was gone. Luna helped me stand. It was dark now, my torch had been thrown all the way into the lake and the only light left was the torches the goblins carried and the small amount of fake moonlight that filtered through the ceiling. The three of us ran along the side of the lake trying to gain some distance and let Luna get enough time to cast another spell but we were quickly running out of places to run. A half-dozen horns blew behind us as more and more goblins rushed out of the tunnels toward us. Just when I thought things couldn''t get any worse I saw something that chilled me to the bone. There were glowing white eyes sitting in the mouth of the tunnel ahead of us. The umber hound is here too. I stopped in my tracks, every fiber of my being wanted to despair but I had been taught over and over to never give up when things looked bleak. Too many hunters have come back alive from sheer dumb luck to give up now. I turned around and faced the incoming goblins. I desperately hoped the umber hound would continue to sit in the mouth of its tunnel and protect its territory. If we''re lucky, it''ll walk away if we somehow manage to make it out of this alive. The three of us cut down hordes of the goblins but the noose was slowly pulling tighter and tighter around us. Despite the number we''ve already killed they just kept throwing themselves at us. Things looked hopeless, we were getting overwhelmed. Then something completely unexpected happened. The umber hound rushed out of the cave and started tearing into the goblins. Claws and fangs slashed them apart like they were made of grass. Several times I thought it would turn on one of the three of us but it had only gotten close to put itself between us and the goblins. Like a whirlwind the monster tore through them, its eerie white eyes leaving trails of light in the darkness of the cave, the only part of the creature we could consistently see. The monster was protecting us from the goblins. I don''t know why but each time it drew near it pulled one of the goblins away from us and launched it back into the horde or killed it on the spot. Once or twice could have been a fluke but for over thirty minutes it protected us and stopped any of the monsters from getting close even once. Eventually another horn blew and the goblins began to retreat. For a while the umber hound followed, picking them off where it could. When it reached the mouth of the goblins'' tunnel, the white glowing eyes off in the distance stopped and turned back toward us. As it came closer I lit a torch, I hoped that maybe the fire would deter the monster away but no such luck. I didn''t know what to do. Umber hounds were known to chase any prey that ran. The only thing I could hope for was that it wasn''t interested in us. Those hopes were dashed once I could tell that its eyes weren''t trained on the tunnel it had come from. The glowing white eyes that were often used to frighten young children into behaving, were trained on us. The eyes kept creeping closer, moving much slower than they had when hunting the goblins. Eventually, after so long that my chest was heaving with anxiety, the eyes got close enough to see the monster in the torchlight. What stood in front of us was not an umber hound, but a woman with the eyes of one. Chapter 6

<~> Chapter 6 - Helena Okay, now what do I do? I watched the group of three standing in front of me. They still had their weapons drawn but they didn''t look like they were planning on attacking me, I would hope not after protecting them. I wasn''t sure if I should get involved when they were running away from those creatures but when they were about to get overwhelmed I decided to step in. Now that the monsters were gone I didn''t know how to handle the aftermath. Part of me was happy to see people at all but the way they were dressed further hammered home that I wasn''t in the world I knew anymore. The one in front and the only male of the group was wearing a dark brown tattered cloak over his medieval looking armor. He reeked of blood from those gross monsters but I could tell the scent was coming from his clothes and not from his breath, at least he wasn''t eating those disgusting things. I don''t want to talk about how I could tell, my senses were sharper than I liked sometimes. He was carrying a plain looking sword that looked well used and a large shield, from what I saw he knew how to use them. He had bright red hair and brown eyes, from their matching hair he looked like the other one''s sibling. She was standing next to him, also wielding a sword but she had a smaller shield, she also had much less blood on her. Her sword smelled strongly enough that I could tell she had been killing the monsters with it too but she seemed to have fewer kills than the guy. The woman stood almost as tall as her brother but looked a bit more stringy because of it. That wasn''t to say she looked weak, hardly, she looked strong enough to wipe the floor with most of the people back home. Her piercing green eyes held a lot of determination in them as if she was ready and willing to fight. The last of their group made me do a double take. The woman was shorter than her friends but the height difference was made up for by the tall fox ears on top of her head. My first instinct was to think they were fake but the way they were twitching and turning to listen for sounds reminded me of a cat I used to have, combined with the swishing fox tail behind her, they looked real. She had bright blue eyes that sparkled in the white glow that followed everything I looked at. The next thing I noticed were the horrible scars across her throat, partially covered by a thick black choker. She wore a dark red cloak that covered some kind of padded armor underneath. Unlike her friends, she didn''t carry a sword but rather a small scepter with a rounded red stone at the end. I slowly raised my arms in what I hoped was a placating motion. "Hey guys, I helped you out. Do you think we can talk about this? I''d rather you not point your sharp looking swords in my direction." The guy in front squinted at me before speaking in a strange language to the one I assumed was his sister. I couldn''t place what language they were speaking. I wasn''t exactly an expert on languages but I could usually at least place the region languages were from. This one didn''t sound like anything I had heard before. In a weird way, it sounded the most like English because it didn''t seem to have any unfamiliar sounds but what they were saying was complete gibberish. The two had a short back and forth with each other while the fox girl kept looking at me, only occasionally glancing at her friends without contributing anything to their conversation. "What language are you speaking? Do any of you speak English?" I kind of felt like a stupid tourist but I didn''t know what else to do. The red-headed woman flinched a little when I spoke again so I took a step back just in case. They still hadn''t put their swords away and while I had a suspicion I could move faster than them, I didn''t want to put that to the test. I barely survived being eaten by a wolf, I''d rather not get stabbed in the gut only a few days later. ...Or however long it had actually been. Out of nowhere, they both turned to the silent fox girl who nodded back at them, the gesture was odd because as far as I could tell she hadn''t said anything. Could the fox girl read minds? She swapped the scepter to her offhand and began digging through a satchel hanging on her waist. I watched her warily, not sure I liked where this was going. What she pulled out though was a bit unexpected. She took out a metal ring, a bit large for my fingers, and placed it on the ground in front of her. Then their entire group stepped back to give me space to pick it up. I was confused, I looked down at the ring and back up at them and noticed the male was pointing at a matching ring on his own finger. I wasn''t really sure what they were expecting but I picked it up without taking my eyes off of them. I hoped this wasn''t some kind of elaborate trap or something. The only thing that bolstered my confidence is that the three of them looked scared shitless by me. ...I couldn''t really blame them for that. When I held the ring in my palm it looked too big for my finger but the male was now pantomiming putting the ring on. I glanced at the fox girl who nodded at me as if that would be reassuring. I decided to risk it and slipped the large ring around my left middle finger. I stared in shock as the ring shrunk down and fit my finger perfectly, like it had been made for me. ("Can you understand me?") I jumped when I heard the unfamiliar voice and looked at each of the people in front of me again. ("Hello?") I asked. The fox woman turned to the others and the two redheads suddenly started speaking excitedly to each other. I looked at the fox girl, was she speaking through the rings? ("Can you understand me? I can''t understand the language the other two were speaking.") The fox woman smiled. ("Yes, it''s not what the rings were created for but they let two hearts speak directly, not truly with words.") I looked back down at the plain metal band, suddenly much more in awe of the simple looking ring now. ("How do they work? How did it shrink to fit my finger?") ("That''s part of the enchantment.") I looked back up at the fox girl. ("Enchantment? Like magic?") She furrowed her brows and then I assume relayed something to the other two who replied something to her. It was a bit frustrating to see them talking about me in their own language but under the circumstances I was amazed we found a way to communicate at all. She turned back to me. ("Is your kind not aware of Enchantments?") The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ("My kind? What do you mean?") I asked. ("Umber hounds.") Just the name made me shiver and it was not hard to piece together what she was implying. She thought I was a wolf like the one that tried to kill me. ...I could understand why, I had its eyes. The name of the creature seemed fitting, giant wolves made of shadow with glowing white eyes that pierced the darkness. ("I am not an umber hound. I am a human.") Her eyes went wide and turned to her companions who immediately started having some sort of argument. As that continued the fox girl turned back to me. ("You protected us from the goblins... are you an ally?") I glanced at the swords her friends still held. ("I don''t want to fight and I would prefer if your friends put their swords away. Swinging them around like that is making me nervous, especially while they''re arguing.") The fox caught their attention and pointed at their swords. They looked at me and nodded. Then something unexpected happened, the man''s voice appeared in my head just like the foxgirl''s had, ("You say you are an ally then? You won''t attack us after we put away our weapons?") I turned to the man and nodded. ("I promise.") The man stared into my eyes for a moment before turning back to his sister and speaking to her in their language again. They argued a bit more but after a moment the two of them watched me as they slowly sheathed their swords. I turned to the fox. ("Why were you speaking for them if they could speak to me too?") She smiled. ("The rings take mana to use and Maxwell doesn''t have a lot of it. Piper can use them a little bit but her regeneration is slow enough that she needs to save most of her mana for healing. I''m the only one who has enough mana regeneration to use the rings freely but it takes mana in both directions so they would have run out of mana if they tried to talk to you more.") I looked over the other two again, finally able to put a name to a face. Maxwell and Piper. I turned to the fox woman. ("What about you? What''s your name?") ("Luna. And you?") ("Helena Miller.") She tilted her head. ("You''re a noble?") ("No? Do you not have a last name?") ("Usually only nobles and wealthy merchants are allowed to have a last name, though I''ve never heard of the ''Miller'' family.") I shook my head. ("I''m not a noble or anything like that. Where I come from everyone has a family name.") ("I''ve never heard of a place like that. Where do you come from? Why do you have the eyes of an umber hound? Oh wait, do you have enough mana to keep talking like this?") She suddenly looked flustered. Before I saw the girl hurling fireballs I didn''t know magic even existed. I shrugged. ("I don''t know, I didn''t know that I had any mana. I don''t know anything about magic at all.") Was it wise to tell them where I come from? Maybe I would be better off keeping that to myself for now. It was obvious this world was a lot different, would I be in danger if I talked about how I got here? Would it make them more accepting of someone who acted like a monster sometimes or would it make them less likely to trust me? Maxwell spoke to Luna for a moment in their native tongue, when he finished Luna turned back to me. ("Maxwell wants to know what your plan is? He saw the... territory markers for the umber hound and wanted to know if we need to be worried about another one hunting us. He also wants to know if you wanted something in return for saving us.") Territory markers? I looked at the deep grooves I cut into the stone with my claws for a moment before turning back. ("I only ever saw the one umber hound that tried to kill me, it''s been dead for a few days now. If you''re talking about the scratch marks in the walls those were just me trying not to get lost in the caves over there.") I pointed in the direction of the tunnel I had come from. ("As for a reward... would it be okay if I came with you guys? I don''t know how I got here and I''m lost. It would be nice to get out of this tunnel system and breathe some fresh air again.") She stared at me a little perplexed by my answers before turning back to her comrades. After a bit of time, my replies seem to have started another argument between the two siblings, clearly aimed at me from all the pointing. The fox waved to get my attention again. ("Don''t mind them, but first, you''re on the sixteenth floor of a dungeon, you know that right? There is no fresh air here, you''d have to go back up to the top and leave before you could get out.") ("Dungeon? Like a prison? What do you mean? Did someone send me here on purpose?") My answer clearly left her even more confused because she tapped Piper on the shoulder and I assume started talking to her next through the rings. This led to another conversation between the two siblings, this one looked a lot less like an argument. After some back and forth the fox spoke to me again, ("This isn''t a prison, this is a place where monsters spawn and hunters come to gather rare materials to sell to the city up above us. Or, in the case of goblins, where we can grow stronger to fight more dangerous enemies. If you''re not a hunter you shouldn''t be down here, or well, I guess with your strength that wouldn''t matter...") The two humans got the fox''s attention and told something to her before she spoke again, ("My friends say that if you want to come with us you''ll have to help us fight. But if you do, then Maxwell wouldn''t mind giving you a standard split of the money we make and lead you out of the dungeon. He''s essentially inviting you to our party.") I looked over the group who were waiting for my response expectantly. ("Sure? Seems fair to me.") For the first time since I''d met the group the two red-heads smiled and patted the fox on the shoulder. It seems that whatever I agreed to just made the two humans pretty happy. And the shy blush on the fox girl''s face was pretty cute... Chapter 7

<~> Chapter 7 The two redheads smiled and said something to me before stepping away and pulling things out of their backpacks near the lake. The fox girl seemed much more interested in continuing to talk to me though. ("Maxwell is going to be setting up camp here, this place is as safe as any with a watch. Oh, you don''t have any issues with him starting a fire right?") I shook my head. ("No, fire doesn''t scare me. The stream I''ve been washing myself in was warm but it would be nice to sit down next to an actual fire for once.") She looked off in the distance at Maxwell who turned and nodded at her before pulling out tools and apparently logs from his backpack? Where does he keep all that junk? Looking around it looks like he''s already pulled out more tools than would have fit in his moderate-sized backpack. ("Earlier you said that you killed the other... er, I mean you killed an umber hound that tried to kill you. Was its pelt intact?") the fox girl asked. I nodded. ("Yeah, I have a pile of its bones too.") The fox girl perked up. ("Are you going to leave them? Would you be willing to share them with us instead?") I turned to her. ("I don''t see why not, can you do something with them? It would have been nice to preserve the fur but I don''t know how to do any of that.") Without another word the fox jumped up and started scribbling something in the dirt in front of Maxwell, this got his attention and he said something to the other redhead. Luna turned to me and spoke from there, her voice in my head sounded just as clear from the other side of their camp as it did when she was right next to me. ("Maxwell wanted me to ask if you could lead us to the pelt and bones. He says he will help you preserve and sell any of them that you don''t want.") ("Sure, that would be great. Should we go now?") When I stood up he began to panic for a moment before Luna calmed him down. ...Maybe the way I suddenly stood up spooked him. He gave a quick order to his sister, Piper, before he put his pack back on and walked over. I looked around at all of the stuff they set up around the firepit they were preparing. ("Are we just going to leave this stuff?") I asked Luna. She nodded. ("We don''t intend to stay there, we''ll grab the monster''s remains and come back. We shouldn''t be gone too long so everything will still be here when we get back.") ("If you''re sure about that...") I began walking to the mouth of the cave wall where I had put all of the scratches in the wall. They were already starting to fade but there were enough deep ones that they would stay for a while. I glanced back and it looked like they were ready to follow so I stepped into the tunnel. I found the series of scratch marks that led back to the place I had been sleeping. I was about to shift my hands into claws again to rework the marks but I thought better of it. It was dark when they first saw me by the lake and I didn''t want to frighten them by shifting yet, I wasn''t sure if that would be enough to scare them off. Or make them change their minds about me. We walked for maybe half an hour before we came to the opening of the tunnel I had been sleeping in for the past few days. There wasn''t much here, the only things I had left were the pelt in the corner and the pile of bones. Everything else I had on me was in my purse. When I stepped aside and pointed at the pelt and bones Maxwell looked excited before warily watching me and taking a closer look. He picked up and examined the bones before moving on to examine the pelt. Piper kept watch over me and Luna silently watched Maxwell examine the thing. The fur and hide had been shredded around the edges where I had torn it open with my claws but a majority of it was intact. The monster''s coat was black fur, unlike the twisting smoke that my own pelt was made of. The difference hadn''t occurred to me until now. As much as I became like that creature I was still different from it somehow. I wasn''t sure what that meant but I felt like it meant something. I heard a noise down the tunnel, it sounded like those gross creatures again, goblins the fox girl had called them. I suppose it was a fitting name, though I only vaguely knew of them from the fantasy novels I used to read. I crouched down and peeked around the corner. Piper behind me said something to her friends but when the group of four came into sight I pounced and shifted into my wolf form mid-slash. In moments I had torn my way through all of them and shifted back before Maxwell even had a chance to turn the corner. It wasn''t until I saw the shock in his eyes that I realized I let the instincts take hold of me again. I stood back and gave them space to examine the bodies. They spoke to each other and glanced at me, I had a feeling they were rethinking our alliance based on their scared looks. I turned to the fox girl. ("Uh, should I not have killed them?") Luna came over to me and gently put her hand against my arm. ("No, that was fine. My friends are just... wondering how you killed them. When you protected us by the lake you looked like an umber hound, now you look... mostly human. They''re just wondering how your magic works.") Magic? Maybe if I could show them while they were ready for it they wouldn''t be too scared... ("I can show them, how I shift into a monster... But I don''t want to scare them. I''m afraid of how they''ll react.") ("...I''ll talk to them. Give me a moment.") She went over to the group and tapped Piper on the shoulder before silently talking with them. The other two whispered back and forth a bit before coming to a conclusion and all turning towards me. ("Okay, we''re ready. We promise we won''t attack you, just don''t come too close right away.") I nodded to them and let the transformation take over me. I felt my entire body growing and covering itself in the wispy shadows that clung to my larger form. My hands turned to giant claws and my face shifted to that of a wolf. I could smell the fear and sweat coming off of them as my senses sharpened but I still felt in control of my instincts, I still knew I didn''t want to hurt the people in front of me. The tunnel grew cramped so I lay down on the cool floor and watched them. A quadrupedal position that felt natural despite my quasi-bipedal form. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The fox spoke to me through the rings. ("Can you still understand me.") ("Yes, I am still me, even when I''m like this,") I replied. Luna started to walk over me and Maxwell reached out to stop her. The fox girl nodded and pointed to me and gave them non-verbal reassurance until he let her go. She approached me and put her hand on my side, running her hands through the wispy smoke of my coat. ("It doesn''t look like fur but it feels like fur when I touch it.") She leaned her head against me and even took a few sniffs that tickled. ("It doesn''t smell like smoke either, it''s like the smoke is an illusion. Is it something you can control?") she asked me. ("No, my coat is just like this. I''m not sure why, even the umber hound didn''t look like this up close.") She stepped back and patted me on the shoulder. ("Does it take mana or energy to turn back and forth?") ("I don''t know, I haven''t had any trouble turning back and forth but sometimes my body shifts by itself. Especially at first, before I could control it.") ("Do you feel its instincts? Does your body move without thinking sometimes?") I hesitated with the answer, which I realized was a dead giveaway so I decided to be truthful. ("Yes... Sometimes they push me to act before I can think about my actions. So far it''s mainly been when I''m fighting but a few times it happened before I even knew I was going to fight.") She stroked her hand through my fur which felt oddly reassuring. ("There are some beastkin that struggle with their instincts but that''s normal. You just have to remember who your friends are and you will be okay.") ("Is it difficult to remember? In the moment?") I was scared of hurting them... ("Not usually. But until you get a handle on it you may want to keep some distance from us while fighting. Just to be safe.") I nodded in reply. ("Can you shift back? It''ll help my friends relax and trust that you''re in control of yourself.") ("Sure.") I stood up and let my body shift back to my regular form, the smoke faded and my body was back to normal, save for my eyes. I checked the wraps around my chest and they were still snugly in place. The two others visibly relaxed and walked up to me with a smile. Maxwell patted me on the shoulder which caught me off guard and said something to me in his native tongue. ("Luna, what did he say?") I asked. She smiled. ("He said that you''re a bit scary but he thinks he can trust you. Just don''t point those sharp claws our way.") I looked him in the eye and nodded seriously which got me a smile in return. Maxwell went back to the pile of bones and fur and pulled out a knife. He began scraping that gross film and remains of meat away from the pelt. He looked like he knew what he was doing so I wasn''t going to object. I tapped Luna on the shoulder. ("What are you going to do with the fur?") She turned to me and smiled. ("I''m not sure what our plan is but Maxwell is preparing it before it rots. Whatever is done with it, it would be a shame for such a powerful monster pelt to be wasted. This kill is yours so if you want to keep it I''m sure Maxwell wouldn''t contest that, uh, he might want something for preparing it but that shouldn''t be too much. With your strength, I''m sure we''ll make plenty to cover it. Even if we took you back up to the city right away there''s plenty of hunting opportunities on the way back.") Am I in a rush to get out of this dungeon? I''m almost afraid to go up. This world is obviously not my own, do I even care to see the city if there''s no way back? ...Is there no way back? What about my family? My friends? My home? My life? I''ve been trying to survive all of this time, I didn''t stop to consider what all of this actually means. I might be lost with no way home. ("Are you okay?") Luna''s voice brought me out of my gloomy thoughts before I spiraled too deep into somewhere bad. ("...I''m fine. Sorry, just thinking about some stuff.") Maxwell apparently got to a good stopping point with the fur because he folded it up and stuffed it into his bag before carrying piles of bones toward the stream. ("What is he doing now?") I asked Luna. ("He''s just rinsing off the bones before he stores them in his backpack.") I glanced at the pile of bones and then at his small bag. ("Uh, how are they all going to fit with that pelt inside? Is he just going to take the best ones? How valuable are these bones anyway?") ("Oh, his backpack is a subspace backpack, it has lots of room and will keep the pelt fresh until it can be taken to a tannery. I''m not sure he''ll be able to take all of the bones but he should be able to take most of them.") Before I could comment on that strange bit of logic she continued, ("As for the value of the bones and pelt, I''m not sure actually but they''re from a very high-level monster. An umber hound wouldn''t usually be seen for another ten or twenty levels down from here so they''re probably worth more than their weight in gold, easy.") Holy shit. I would have called bullshit but her voice and tone was completely serious. If the thing was so strong... how did I manage to kill it? Chapter 8

<~> Chapter 8 I watched as that huge pile of bones disappeared into Maxwell''s tiny bag with interest. It was bizarre watching the bones disappear without any outward effect on the bag. He noticed me watching and said something in his language but I couldn''t understand what he was getting at so I just took a small step back. He just shrugged and got back to stuffing the washed bones inside until they were all gone. The redheaded woman, Piper, walked over to her brother and started talking to him about something. I turned to Luna. ("Are those two siblings? They look similar.") She smiled and nodded. ("Yes, the two of them have been my friends since I was little. After my father died I had nowhere to go, so the three of us left to the dungeon city of Ironcastle to become hunters. After a while we decided to move here to Fallow, a new dungeon city that was discovered only twenty years ago.") ("That''s what this place is called? Fallow?") I asked. She shook her head. ("The city is called Fallow, this place is the Fallow dungeon. Only a small distinction but people might be confused if you just said Fallow.") I nodded and watched as Maxwell finished up what he was doing with the bones and dusted his hands off. Like Luna said there were only a few of the cracked and chipped bones left, the rest he had managed to completely stuff in his small looking bag. He said something to them and Luna turned to translate for me. ("We''ve been up for a long time and we plan to go back to the lake to camp after this. You''re still coming with us, right?") I paused before nodding. ("Right. We''re sticking together now, that means I should stay close doesn''t it?") She smiled and nodded before standing up and walking over to Maxwell. I didn''t really know what else to do so I followed. Luna was the only one able to speak to me regularly so I should probably stay close. I led them back through the twisting tunnels using my markings. This place was confusing but I had my system down by now so it wasn''t difficult to find our way back to the lake. I could tell my new ''party'' had been on edge in the tunnels but I couldn''t hear or smell any of those gross creatures around so I didn''t waste any time heading back. I could smell their tension relax once we reached the lake again, the cool air felt nice against my skin despite being so lightly dressed. As soon as we were back to their camping spot Maxwell started putting up two tents with his sister while Luna stayed by my side. Was she watching me or was it just not her job to help put up the tents? ("We only have two tents with us but we can work around it since two of us will have to stay up at a time to keep watch.") She looked over the silk wraps that were covering my body with a slight but noticeable blush. ("Aren''t you... cold like that? It''s a little chilly here by the lake, even with the fire.") ("Is it?") I asked. ("I don''t feel cold at all. I probably don''t need to share your tents either, I''m comfortable sleeping in my wolf form for now. I''ll just sleep on the ground outside when it''s my turn.") Luna gave me a strange look. ("Sure... that would be fine. Are you sure though?") I nodded and smiled. ("I''m sure, no need to worry about me.") Maxwell called something out to Luna but I still couldn''t understand any of it. I wonder if I could convince one of them to help me learn... better wait on that though. They don''t know me that well, it''d probably be better to prove myself first. Right now we were still acquaintances, if I can help them stay alive down here then they''d be more likely to teach me. I should wait until I could prove it would benefit them before I ask. ("The soup is almost ready, it''s made from our rations. We have more than three weeks of rations left and we were considering heading back up sooner than that so there''s plenty to share. Don''t feel bad having some.") I nodded, I wasn''t that hungry though, I still felt satisfied after eating those icy salamanders in the cave on the other side of the lake. I watched as they all ladled their soup into some wooden bowls for themselves. Luna made a point to pour me a small bowl and hand it to me as well. It was a thin soup and they didn''t use any utensils for it, preferring to just drink directly from the bowls. I followed their lead and took a sip. Bland. That was the only way I could describe the food. The thought brought me back to the salamander I devoured and how much better the raw meat tasted to me in the moment. ("How is it?") Luna asked. I jumped, shaken from my memory. ("Oh, it''s... fine. It has a very mild flavor.") The fox girl smiled wryly. ("It''s true, it doesn''t taste like much. We''re tight on money so we didn''t spend much on spices. Most of the taste comes from the salted meat we used.") I nodded. ("Thanks for the food but I''ve already eaten recently, I''m not that hungry.") Her brows furrowed. ("What did you eat? There isn''t much more than goblins and tunnelers on this floor.") I pointed at the cave I found the cold salamanders in. ("There were these cold salamanders in that cave over there. My... abilities let me eat raw meat. I also ate one of those tunnelers too but they''re harder to find.") Maxwell noticed that I pointed off in the distance and quickly said something to Luna. A questioning tone perhaps? After a moment Luna turned back to me. ("You ate frost salamanders? Were you able to kill them yourself? Their freezing breath is very dangerous and their meat isn''t considered edible.") I shrugged. ("They were cold when I fought them but it wasn''t so bad. They were harder to fight than the goblins but at least there were fewer of them.") Luna turned to Maxwell before pursing her lips and turning to Piper. After a moment Piper and Maxwell began to have a conversation, likely about what I said. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. This looked like my chance to ingratiate myself to them. I tapped Luna on the shoulder. ("Would it help if I promised to help them hunt the frost salamanders tomorrow? I could eat their meat and they could take whatever they wanted from what was left. Or if they wanted part of the meat I could share that as well.") She tilted her head before relaying what I had said to Piper again. Perhaps Maxwell had run out of mana? After another quick discussion among the three, two out loud and Luna via writing that I also couldn''t understand, they came to some conclusion. Luna turned back to me. ("Frost salamanders are too dangerous for us to fight but if you think you can kill them without any problems we could take some of their organs to sell. There''s this gland that produces a cold mucus that they use to attack with, an extracted gland can be very valuable to an alchemist or enchanter because of its cold properties. We''d be able to sell them and you would of course get a cut of the gold.") Gold ey? ("Sure, that sounds fine with me. We should hunt them after we rest though, I''m not hungry yet and the three of you said you were tired.") She nodded and smiled. ("Of course! Thank you for your help!") I was a little caught off guard by how earnest her telepathic voice was. The amphibians weren''t that difficult for me to fight but this sounded like a windfall to them. ...There was something else there though, the enthusiasm of her reply sounded like more than just greed to me. I wasn''t quite sure what that meant yet. Luna seemed to communicate with Piper again who excitedly told Maxwell. His response was a bit more measured, he seemed happy but he also looked at me with wariness. Perhaps I underestimated the value of what I offered, maybe I was coming on too strong? No, it was important to show how valuable to them I could be and more cynically, how dangerous it would be to piss me off. This would be fine, there would have to be a balance to this. I couldn''t just give everything away but I could still help them, for a cut of course. I needed to make sure our interests continue to stay aligned. It was time for first watch, I offered to do it alone but I got the impression that they didn''t fully trust me, which was fair I suppose. I didn''t fully trust them either. They decided it made the most sense to have Luna stand watch with me first. Maxwell and Piper were the ones who needed rest the most being a frontline fighter and a healer with a nearly empty mana pool. I was a little surprised to hear the woman was a healer, she didn''t fit the stereotype of a priest or a cleric that I had in my head from fantasy novels. Luna giggled at my reaction to that information for some reason. Maxwell crawled into one of the tents with his sheathed sword and his boots still on. I wasn''t sure if he always did that or if it was because he wanted to be ready if I turned out to be a threat. I could understand the caution but I can''t say it didn''t grate on me a little. Piper seemed a bit more trusting from the words that were relayed back to me but she also dragged her sword in the tent with her. I just put it out of my mind. It would take a while for them to trust me and I couldn''t blame them for it so I shouldn''t stew over it either. I sat on a rock a small distance from the fire and looked over the lake and surrounding area. It looked peaceful despite the amount of violence here not even that long ago. No matter how much time I''ve spent here so far the view of the moon through the hole in the ceiling never changed, the view was entirely artificial. A strange thought but it reinforced the idea that I was in a ''dungeon,'' some kind of place where monsters exist. ("Do you mind if we talk for a while?") I turned to see Luna standing near me bundled up in her robes. ("Sure, I don''t mind. Should we talk closer to the campfire?") She rubbed at the back of her head. ("If you don''t mind... I would appreciate that yes.") Laughing, I followed her back to the campfire where it was warmer. The cold didn''t seem to bother me much anymore. I sat down near the fire and to my surprise Luna didn''t sit across from me but right next to me. It took me a second to reason out why, I was facing the directions the goblins had run to, she was probably just being safe. ("What did you want to talk about?") I asked. Luna didn''t reply right away, she tapped her chin for a moment before finally deciding. ("What''s your favorite color?") I was caught off guard, I didn''t expect her question to be so... mundane? ("Um. Red I suppose?") I looked at the color of her robes, it was an interesting dark red color that I liked. ("Something like the color of your robes, the color looks nice on you.") She blushed and looked away in an almost overly exaggerated way to the simple compliment. ("Oh, thank you... Mine''s green.") There was a bit of an awkward silence and I turned to study her face. She acted cute and her face was gorgeous. I hadn''t focused on her looks much with everything going on but not that I''m getting a good look at her, she''s rather attractive. ("Um, you don''t mind my ears and tail do you?") she asked bashfully. Well, since she brought them up... ("Are they uh... real?") I asked. She turned to me and tilted her head, confused by the question. ("Real? Uh, yes...") I looked at her ears again, I already thought they looked real before and with the same woman literally throwing fireballs it was hard to doubt her. But a woman with animal ears seemed so... strange. ("I''ve never seen someone with fox ears before... can I touch them?") Her eyes widened slightly and she blushed. I was about to take it back but she suddenly nodded. ("O-okay. Just be gentle, they''re a bit sensitive.") The way she said it made me think that I asked something pretty inappropriate but she had already given permission and I was too curious about them to change my mind now. I reached out and touched the fur along the top of her left ear. It felt as real as it looked, there was a slightly cold thin membrane of skin near the edges and her ears got thicker towards the center and near her head. The fur on the top of her ear was soft and plush. I trailed my fingers up her long ear and played with the tip with my thumb. I was worried when she told me they were sensitive but she didn''t seem to be reacting much, she was just staring at the ground with a blush on her face. Cute. I didn''t want to push my luck any further so I pulled my hand back. ("They''re very soft. I''ve never seen someone with... ears like that before. They look really pretty.") She smiled, ("Thank you...") I felt a bit awkward as the two of us sat together quietly after that. I couldn''t bring myself to say much until it was time to wake Piper for the next watch. Neither of us had the courage to keep talking after that exchange. Chapter 9

<~> Chapter 9 I woke up to the hurried patting of Maxwell on my side. I had slept in my wolf form which I had thought would dissuade him from touching me but when I opened my eyes I could see why he was so frantically waking me. A group of goblins, five of them, were skulking a little off in the distance. Unfortunately, the goblins were very much aware when I opened my eyes because the light from my eyes lit them up like a spotlight. The group of goblins froze as I looked at them, maybe hoping that I wouldn''t notice them if they didn''t move. I scanned around the area for others and found a few goblin scouts spread out around us, but no other larger parties. I slowly stood up, eyes focused on the largest group. A quick glance at Maxwell saw that he was waking the rest of our group too now, poor Piper would only have gotten a few hours of sleep at most, having just had the middle shift. I continued to look around for more goblins as the ones I had seen felt comfortable enough to continue their approach, there was still some distance for the goblins to cover before they could attack us and it was easy to keep track of them, I just needed to make sure there weren''t more trying to circle around us. Their ranged weapons could be dangerous, even if the goblins themselves weren''t too concerning to me. The scouts I could detect had shortbows but they weren''t drawn yet, probably waiting for their comrades to get into position. They held still as I scanned past them, they thought I couldn''t detect them. ("How many can you see?") Luna asked me. ("Five in the party ahead of us and two scouts on either side. I''ve been looking for more but I can''t see any others,") I replied. ("And your other senses?") I paused, having forgotten that I had new senses to draw on. I exhaled a breath and then took in the scents using my new hound nose. The scents became somewhat easy to tune out at a distance but when I focused on them I got a clearer picture of the surroundings. ("I smell one more scout, a bit further away hiding in the rocks on our left. That makes eight total,") I replied. Maxwell and Piper traded hushed whispers in their language, probably from the information Luna shared with them by scratching in the dirt. ("We can''t see them, Maxwell heard one of their fake bird calls and that''s when he woke you.") In the soft sand, I drew out a map of their position, using crude symbols to denote the rocks and the lake. ("Group of five melee fighters ahead, slowly advancing in a crouch. Three scouts fanned out around us with short bows. No arrows drawn yet, none of them know I can detect them even if they freeze when the light of my eyes passes over them.") More hushed whispers from Maxwell and Piper. ("The scouts are the most dangerous, do you think you can take them?") she asked. ("If I go for the two on the left I can''t do anything about the one on the right. Do you see that rock over there? If you can hit that one I can take the other two before the group of five attacks us head-on.") ("I see the rock, I don''t need to see the goblin directly to hit him. Go on my signal?") ("Sure, relay our actions to the others, I''ll wait for your signal,") I replied. I kept my eyes trained on the group of five to still their advance while I focused on the scent of my prey to the left. I felt anticipation, excitement to hunt while I waited for Luna''s signal. I caught the scent of embers and charcoal as I felt warmth flow around the fox girl. ("Now,") she said tersely. Like a coiled spring, I launched myself to the left and toward my quarry. Before the first could react his blood had sprayed on the dirt. The second cried out when the first one died and trained its bow in its dead comrade''s direction. I was moving so fast he couldn''t track my bright glowing eyes in the darkness. I felt the sudden shift in air pressure on my whiskers as the rocks the other goblin had been hiding behind shook with a fiery explosion. Before the fire spell had even abated I tore the last of the scouts to ribbons. I turned as the five goblins decided to charge Maxwell and Piper. The two of them caught the charging goblins with their shields but they were being surrounded. Luna began to hurl smaller balls of fire at them from a distance which was enough of a distraction for me to get behind one and crush its neck from behind. I was startled at how easily I felt the monster''s neck break as I hadn''t expected the armored goblin to die so easily. I tossed his corpse at one of the others who managed to deflect the body and stay standing. The numbers were even again, only four of them remained. Now that I was here the others were able to push their offensive. My claws cut deep into one of the goblins and before it hit the ground the others were finished with their goblins as well. I stomped on the burning goblin next to me, tired of its screams. It was only after I had finished that I realized how brutal I had become. When the fighting started it felt like I became a different person, callous towards these semi-intelligent hostile creatures and uncaring for the gore that I saw. It was only after the fact that the idea turned my stomach. Maxwell and Piper laughed and exchanged harried words, giddy from the fading adrenaline. Luna came and rejoined us, quietly enjoying the victorious mood. The fact that their emotions were so far from my own gave me pause but I dismissed it. That''s why they were here, to kill monsters. I''m the one out of my element, I shouldn''t judge them for not sharing my foul mood. ("I''m going for a dip in the lake... to wash off the blood,") I told Luna solemnly. I walked away before receiving a response. The smell of the lake was nice, the plants that grew inside of it gave it an earthy smell. I stepped into it, still in my wolf form. It was a bit cold but not unbearable so, so I kept going. The lake was deeper than it looked, and sunk in at a more extreme angle than I had expected, but the water was still. I waded in and fully submerged myself under the placid water. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. For four heartbeats I stayed under, just feeling the slight chill of the water before rising to the top and running my clawed fingers through the fur on my head. This form felt more and more comfortable to me, more normal by the moment. I had stayed in this mostly bestial form for hours now, I hadn''t returned to my human form since I was on watch before I fell asleep. I dipped back under the water and looked around a bit, curious if I could see anything with my newly improved vision. As I was scanning the dark water a reflection glimmered near the bottom in the light of my glowing eyes. Something like metal. ("Helena? Are you alright?") I resurfaced and turned around, seeing Luna standing nearby. ("I see something down there, something metal,") I said. ("In the lake?") she asked. ("Yeah, I''m going to go down and try to get it.") ("Wait! That''s dangerous, there could be a monster lurking down there.") ("I don''t see anything down here and the water is very still. I don''t think much is living down there. I''ll be fine,") I replied. I dove under again before she could say anything more. But the nature of the rings made it so that I could hear her perfectly clearly, even underwater. ("Just be careful...") The lake was rather deep and even the spot I had seen wasn''t near the actual bottom, it was instead partially buried into the steep floor that headed further down. By the time I was getting close to the glimmer of metal, I was concerned I wouldn''t have much time before I needed to go back up for air. When I reached it, I could see metal banding around wood partially sticking out of the floor. Whatever the thing was, it was pretty thoroughly buried in the silt and sand. I began to brush the sand away until I could tell what I was looking at, it looked like a classic treasure chest. Brushing the sand away I was able to find a handle on the side so I planted my feet and gave a yank. Unfortunately, it didn''t budge and I was worried I would run out of air if I waited any longer. I swam back up as quickly as I could and my breath strained before I reached the top. I let out the breath I was holding and filled my lungs with fresh air again, panting. While catching my breath I looked over and saw Luna still waiting at the shore of the lake, I had drifted a bit further away but I could still see her clearly. ("I found a chest buried in the sand down there. I wasn''t able to dig it out on the first try but I''m going to go back down and make another attempt,") I told her. I was a bit surprised at the range the rings could connect to each other. ("You actually found something down there? I didn''t think the dungeon would spawn chests in a place like this, most people wouldn''t be able to handle the cold of this water.") I blinked. Was it cold? I hadn''t even considered that, it was a little chilly but the way she spoke made it sound like it was much colder than I thought it was. I floated in the water until I fully caught my breath again. ("Alright, I''m going back down for another try,") I told her. ("Good luck.") I dove back down and swam toward the chest I had found. Now that the chest was partially unburied it was easier to spot with the glimmering of my eyes. It must not have been underwater for that long because the metal didn''t look rusted at all. Once I reached the chest again I immediately started trying to dig it out, no longer interested in examining it yet. The chest was larger than it looked initially, a bit under half my height. It was no wonder the thing didn''t budge when I yanked on it. I had reached about my halfway point on air again so I tried giving the chest another yank. Still stuck hard. I felt like I was making progress though so I didn''t feel bad about going up for another breath. Next time for sure. I floated in the water and caught my breath. It didn''t look like Luna had moved from her spot, still watching over me. I could tell she could see me, or at least my eyes, because she was looking right at where I was floating. I waved a bit but she didn''t react so it probably was just my eyes. Okay, one more go. I took in a breath and began diving one more time. The chest was even easier to see this time, mostly unburied from the sand the metal banding gleamed in the light of my eyes. Again, I began to dig as soon as I reached it, shoveling away the sand and silt as quickly as I could underwater. I had dug out more than two-thirds of the thing now so I decided to give it another tug, and this time it moved! It felt so close now but I didn''t want to waste any time. I dug out more of the chest, focusing on the corners I could see. Jackpot! I pulled the chest away from the side of the wall, now that it was free from the sand it began to slowly rise on its own. I grabbed the handle and began to swim up. It dragged on the water a little bit but its natural buoyancy helped me along. With another gasp of air, I reached the top with a big splash as the chest crested the surface of the water and bounced on the surface. With a wide grin, I began to drag it towards the shore where Luna was still waiting for me. ("Are you coming back? Did you manage to get it?") she asked. ("I got it! It feels like there''s some air trapped inside so it isn''t hard to drag. I''m on my way back.") When I finally reached the edge of the lake again my body felt heavy. I was exhausted from the swimming and all the digging but I was so excited. The dive had been exhilarating, finding actual treasure even more so. Now that the chest was on the beach it felt heavy without the water helping me drag it along. Carrying it back onto the beach had been the hardest part, the chest alone probably weighed a lot but it was full of something. ("I told Max and Piper to come help carry it, we can check it out by the fire.") I smiled and nodded, before realizing Luna probably couldn''t see me very well. ("Sounds good. Just give me a moment to rest.") Chapter 10

<~> Chapter 10 Loot! One of my friends in college was into geocaching a while back but I never saw the appeal of it until now. This was my first time experiencing anything like this, finding buried treasure. I wasn''t even sure I would care about what was inside but the idea of it was so enticing. What would I find? Gold? Magic? Luna''s fingers touched my arm and I jumped slightly, which made her jump too. I opened my eyes and looked up at her, while still catching my breath from dragging the thing on shore. ("Helena, you''re so cold. Are you sure you''re okay?") ("I''m good, I don''t feel cold at all really, maybe a little chilly but not enough to bother me.") I sat up and got to my feet just as Maxwell and Piper came up to us holding a torch. Maxwell laughed when he looked over me before glancing at the chest and saying something. Turning to Luna she translated without me needing to ask. ("He um, said you look like a wet... dog. And said it was funny seeing something so scary, excited to find a treasure chest. Just like us.") I laughed which seemed to lighten the mood, I could tell Luna was relieved I took what Maxwell said as a joke rather than an insult. I don''t even know if I would have but I don''t think anything could have spoiled my mood at the moment. I looked down at myself, I was soaking wet and covered in what was likely more of a pound of water absorbed into my fur. I could feel a phantom urge to shake like a dog but I squashed that, unwilling to make a fool out of myself. I decided to see what would happen when I shifted back to my human form like this. My body shrunk in height and I adjusted to the shift quicker this time but unfortunately, I was still soaking wet. On the bright side, my human form wasn''t soaking up the water like a sponge so most of the water flowed off of my body rather than weighing me down. I reached up to my hair and squeezed out what I could from there too. Maxwell and Piper grabbed the two handles of the chest and started walking it back to our fire. We weren''t all that far from our little camp but it was still a short distance and I was now a little beat from the exertion. That was a little unfortunate since this was kinda the start of our day now. Those worries melted away once the chest was lit up by the glow of the fire though. This would probably be worth it. Now that we were in the light I was able to get a proper look at the chest. It had a large heavy lock on the front of it holding the bolt in place. ("There''s a lock, is there a way to pick it or something?") I asked Luna. She shook her head. ("None of us know how to do that. We had a rogue with us before that might have been able to but he died before we met you.") My blood ran a little cold at the statement. It wasn''t just that she said it in such a causal way but it was a reminder that people died here, people she had known. I had killed and eaten monsters to survive here. It wasn''t that I wasn''t taking any of this seriously but it put everything that we were doing back into perspective. I looked back at the treasure chest. But at the same time, in order to survive you need to make the most out of exciting moments. Stay positive, see the good things in life too. So I resolved myself to enjoy this moment anyway. Maybe it was an excuse but I was really excited when Maxwell pulled out a small crowbar from his bag. Maxwell wedged the crowbar into the space between the bolt and the lock and started applying pressure. I wasn''t sure if this was going to work but sure enough, it did, though not in the way I expected. The front metal plate of the chest that held the bolt and lock suddenly pulled forward ripping the rivets and nails right out of the chest. The lock fell to the dirt still locked but the entire bolt had come with it. He tossed the crowbar next to his pack and gestured at the box with a smile. I didn''t need Luna to translate to get his meaning, I found it, I should get to open it. The chest turned out to be a little difficult to open. The locking flap that would have helped to open it had been ripped off and I suspect being submerged like that had created a bit of a vacuum but with a little elbow grease and a loud pop, the lid came up and I got to see what was inside. It looked like three items. A journal, some kind of outfit, and a pouch that looked like it held coins inside. I was most curious about the bag so I opened it up and took a look inside. Gold. The romance of a treasure chest didn''t disappoint. Inside the rough leather pouch was a small collection of gold and silver coins. I pulled one out and looked over it. It was cast with two marks I didn''t recognize but there was no mistaking its weight, this was an actual gold coin. I also looked at one of the silver coins, it was cast with the same markings. I wasn''t positive this was actual silver but it looked like it to me. I had seen silver jewelry, and it gleamed like silver but it was harder to tell with this one. I picked up the book next and flipped through it. It was some kind of handwritten journal but I couldn''t read it. There weren''t any pictures or drawings inside either so I handed it to Piper who also seemed interested in the journal. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. I lifted the outfit out of the box and looked under it, confirming that there wasn''t any more inside. I unfolded the outfit and took a look at it. It was made of some kind of black linen with parts fastened with leather straps here and there. The chest had a light piece of metal fitted onto the front and back and was held in place using belted straps. The thing looked pretty huge but while looking over the clothing I realized that I was pretty huge now. ("Maxwell says that it looks like the dungeon took pity on you and spawned in some clothes,") Luna told me. I turned to her in confusion. ("The dungeon?") Her eyes widened a bit in realization. ("Oh, I suppose you said you didn''t know much about the dungeon. It''s kind of amazing you''ve survived down here this long without knowing anything like this. Mm, lots of hunters have come to the conclusion that the actual dungeon itself, the place we are standing inside right now, is alive and somewhat sapient. It sometimes does things that would be weird if they weren''t intentional. Like create a challenge that rewards you with a weapon right after yours broke, or reward you with clothes when you didn''t have any...") Her eyes trailed down my body and I felt my face warm up in response. Hoping to distract from the embarrassment I held the outfit up to my chest. ("So you think the dungeon created these clothes for me because I''m nearly naked?") Luna''s eyes shifted away from me. ("P-perhaps.") I turned to Piper and pointed at the handwritten book. ("What about that?") I asked. Luna looked over at Piper who answered the silent question a moment later. The fox girl turned back to me. ("It''s a book meant to help teach our language to... an adult.") My eyes widened and I took another look at the journal. (...I don''t understand. Why would it create things that seem so tailor-made to the situation I''m in?") She nodded. ("That''s what I mean, the items are too perfect to be random. Don''t get it twisted though, the dungeon isn''t doing it to try and help you. It''s doing it to tempt you. No one really knows why the dungeon does what it does but just as often as it drops the perfect item in your lap, it also can create situations tailor-made to kill you. No matter what it wants, it tries hard to make you go a little bit too far, take one too many risks. If you become too greedy, try too hard to get what you want, or try to manipulate the dungeon, it takes advantage of it. It rarely ends well.") I searched Luna''s face, like her words, her face showed no sign of mirth or laughter. She was being completely serious. ("If this place is so dangerous, why take the risk?") I asked. Luna sighed and took a breath, her throat sounded scratchy and rough. ("Hunters delve dungeons for many reasons. Sometimes they just need the money, like us. Sometimes they''re crazy and need an outlet for their rage and violence. And some are just drawn to exploration and adventure against their better judgment. Most hunters are here because we have to be, we''re no exceptions to that.") The conversation seemed strained so I decided to change the subject. I looked down at the chest. ("So, I was the one who found this stuff but you also mentioned a ''split'' before. So... how do we do this?") She seemed just as happy to latch onto the new subject as I was. ("Well, most of the time we split stuff evenly but if any equipment shows up that''s especially good for one of the people we usually let them take first dibs on it. That only becomes a problem if the dungeon seems to favor one person too much, in that case usually things can be negotiated, taking the value of items out of that person''s gold share or something. Hold on a moment...") Luna turned to her two friends and whatever she said to them caused them to have a conversation of their own. After a few moments, she turned back to me. ("We decided that since this is your first chest and most of the stuff was for you anyway, you can have everything in it including the gold, this time. If we come across another chest with something that you can use soon, we''ll negotiate over it. Maxwell didn''t say this but you probably have quite a bit of ''credit'' because of the bones and umber hound hide anyway. We can discuss that more if it becomes a problem.") I nodded. ("All of that sounds fair enough.") I looked down at the clothes I was still holding to my chest. ("I''d better try on this outfit then. Uh, you don''t think there''s any chance of it being, like, cursed or something do you?") She tilted her head to the sight slightly, cute. ("Hm, no? If it were cursed it would have probably already been forcibly equipped to you, curse items usually work that way. The only thing that wouldn''t is something that needs to be activated like a scroll or a potion.") Riiiiight. Man, hearing all of this stuff made me wish I had played more video games as an adult. I used to play some games with the neighbor kids growing up but I feel like I don''t have a lot of context here. All I can really do is draw from movies and a few fantasy novels I read. ("Okay, well, let me go and try to put this on,") I told her. For whatever reason it felt too awkward putting the new clothes on in front of them. Even though I didn''t plan on taking much off first, it still felt too weird. I took the clothes and walked behind one of the rocks. Looking down my face twisted in disgust, a mostly charred goblin was still lying there from earlier. I took a few steps away from it and started pulling off the extra fabric around my waist that I had fashioned into a loin cloth. I still didn''t have any underwear so the silk-ish wraps would still have to do for now. I shimmied into the black pants, they clung to me pretty tightly but as I got them on I realized how well made they were. They were pretty much form fitting but they felt sturdy and didn''t restrict my range of motion hardly at all. It was a little weird fiddling with the straps to get my head through the opening in the chest piece but once the straps were loose enough I was able to get the top on as well. While I was adjusting the straps, it occurred to me just how well this fit me. I don''t think I had ever owned clothes that fit my body this closely, not that I had ever gone to a tailor before. Once I reappeared from behind the rock the three of them chatted excitedly about me in their language. I got the impression that it looked good on me though so I couldn''t help but smile and feel flattered. Maxwell stepped up to me and began adjusting a few of the straps I had some trouble with and helped make the whole thing fit a lot better. I thanked him and hoped he got the message. He patted my shoulder and said something before stepping away. Luna giggled. ("He says you look much less like a barbarian that''s planning on killing us in our sleep. He uh, has that kind of a sense of humor. He says the gear you''re wearing looks like something made for a scout or at least a light fighter.") I laughed and patted him on the shoulder as well. He flinched a bit at first, probably not expecting that from me but it wasn''t long before we were sitting around the fire as a group. For better or worse, I don''t feel all alone anymore. Chapter 11

<~> Chapter 11 I was a little worried about my new clothes/armor. Before the fabric I had wrapped around myself wasn''t disturbed when I transformed into my larger werewolf(?) form. But I just got this stuff, I didn''t want to risk losing it the second I got it. ("Why don''t you try shifting just your arm? You seemed to be able to do that with your claws,") Luna helpfully suggested. I sighed. ("Well, it is better to know if shifting will destroy my stuff every time now and whether or not I am going to be doomed to be a streaker for as long as I want to use my powers.") My comment got a little, almost silent, giggle out of her which made me smile. I held out my right arm and winced a little as I shifted just my arm. Like before my arm was swallowed up in the wispy black smoke that formed my coat in werewolf form. I couldn''t tell yet if my clothes were still intact and I was scared to find out. I held my breath and shifted it back revealing... my arm still in its sleeve. I let out a dramatic sigh of relief at the averted crisis of being a flasher anytime I wanted to not die. Luna laughed at my antics and gently pushed my shoulder. I grinned back at her before standing up and taking a few steps away. ("Okay, moment of truth. It works on my arm but it''s time to find out if the rest of it will survive to protect my modesty anytime I have to fight.") I shifted into my full umber hound form once again. I was getting used to the changes to my senses now and I didn''t suffer as much vertigo when I shifted anymore. As much anyway. I stood up straight, the cool lakeside air felt good on my fur. I glanced down at my body, in this form I looked naked but any of my indecent places were hidden inside the smoke. I had already explored around a bit while shifted and it didn''t seem that any of my parts were mirrored in this form. I was like an action figure down there when I was like this. I didn''t fully understand the logic this ability operated under but I was relieved that I didn''t have to worry about it. I shifted back to my human form and happily all of my clothes were right where they had been before. ("It looks like we''ve confirmed no one will have to see my bare tits every time I have to transform back and forth,") I said with a grin. ("That''s a shame,") Luna said. A moment later it was like her words caught up with her and she sheepishly turned away. It''s not just me right? I never had the most functional ''gaydar'' or anything but there''s no way I could be interpreting that wrong right? This cute fox girl was kind of into me... right? Before I could pull on that thread any longer Maxwell walked up to us and said something to Luna. This language barrier was really starting to kill me. I was slowly becoming closer to Maxwell and Piper but we still couldn''t even talk. ("Maxwell says he wants to get moving soon. Piper has gotten more sleep but he''s afraid we''re wasting a bit too much time. It''s not too bad since you needed to confirm some things about how your magic works but we need to keep moving if we want to make our payments,") she told me. ("What kind of payments?") I asked. Her ears went back and there was suddenly a bunch of hurt in her eyes out of nowhere, it seemed that whatever that was about is a landmine. ("I''ll... tell you about it later. It''s nothing that should affect you, especially if we make our quota. With your help we should be fine... no problem.") That last part felt like it was aimed more at herself than at me. I nodded and hesitated for a moment before placing my hand on her shoulder. She jumped, not expecting the touch, but then she put her hand on top of mine and smiled. ("Alright, no more dawdling,") she said. I got up and started helping clear the camp. There wasn''t much I could do, it was mostly their stuff to pack up, but I helped put out the fire and collect the tent pieces. Piper smiled at me and waved me over to her. While I watched she slowly folded and packed up the tent, trying to show me how she does it? I''m not sure how much I''ll retain without practice but I''m glad she''s actually trying to teach me something. I pointed at the tent. "Tent." She squinted her eyes at me for a moment before catching on to what I was doing. She pointed at the tent. "Fossak." "Fossak," I repeated. She shook her head. "FOSS-ak" "Foss-ak," I repeated again. She nodded and pointed at another thing and continued to teach me the words for things. Here and there she used some of the words she taught me in a sentence but I couldn''t make heads or tails of the sentence structure. I couldn''t tell if it followed the same ''subject-verb-object'' structure I was used to, and if it didn''t, I couldn''t even begin to interpret what the rules were yet. It was nice to finally find a way to communicate directly though, limited as it was, and it didn''t slow us down much as she ran through new words. While the sounds didn''t sound too weird to me, trying to keep them straight in my head was a challenge. I was constantly mixing some of them up but Piper was patient with me and kept pointing out new words or reviewing old ones. When we finally finished packing up, it felt strange. The time of day hadn''t changed at all in here, the ever-present moonlight always lit the blue lake in the center of the large cavern. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! I turned to Luna. ("Are we going to go hunt the frost salamanders now?") She held up a finger and turned to Maxwell and wrote in the dirt with her boot. He replied and she turned back to me. ("He says we can do that if you''re still up for it. It might still be easier to hunt goblins though. Right now we were trying to gain experience fighting but the frost salamander organs I told you about last night would be more valuable.) Hm. ("How about we start with the frost salamanders? It will give me a chance to eat some and you guys can take the frost organs of the ones I kill. After that, we can go kill some of the goblins if it hasn''t been too long.") She turned to Maxwell to relay the message before turning back to me. ("Are you sure that''s what you want to eat?") She looked a little grossed out. I laughed. ("They taste pretty good to me actually.") The four of us crept up toward the cave with me taking the lead. It seems the guy I''m replacing was also a forward scout and with my newly heightened senses, I''m a good replacement for him. Perhaps an even better one from the way Luna talked. I peeked into the mouth of the cave and saw the frost salamanders spraying their liquid frost all over the ground again. There were only two this time, that''s good since this was more about eating and less about collecting their organs for me. Collecting their organs... even the thought sounds gross. Not that I''m one to talk, the reason I''m hunting them in the first place is to eat their meat raw. ("How much help do you want for this?") Luna asked. I could detect the tinge of worry in her heart''s voice. ("As much as you want to give. I''m confident I can kill them alone.") She turned to the two others and sparked a quick hushed conversation. ("Maxwell says to just do it. We''ll try to help if you get overwhelmed. Oh, and Maxwell says to avoid tearing out their necks.") I nodded, perfectly fine with that. I lowered my body to the ground and took another look into the cave. This was as close as I could get to them without being seen. These things were prey, food, and I was hungry. I pounced into the cave and was on top of the closest one in an instant. I wanted to preserve as much meat as possible this time so I decided to attack it from behind. After tearing a few of these open I knew right where I could break its spine without damaging any of the organs and fouling up the meat. My claws dug into the ice monster''s back and disabled it immediately. The other one was quick to react and blasted me with its frozen mucus but it didn''t even feel cold this time. I ignored the salamander''s breath while I finished off the first one by crushing its skull while carefully avoiding its neck. With that done I turned my attention to the second one. It was almost as if the monster''s eyes had widened as it tried to turn and scurry away. I won''t let you run. The frost salamander hadn''t made it more than three steps before I was on its back too and I killed it in much the same way. The only thing that bothered me about the fight was that the second one had covered me in so much of its slime. The stuff felt gross, like snot. My three new friends walked into the cave once it was clear the monsters were dead. I remembered how the water fell around me when I shifted earlier so I tried to do the same with the mucus and managed to escape with most of the snot on the ground rather than all over my clothes. When I turned to my friends I saw a brief moment of panic from them and Piper even took a step back. I frowned and looked at Luna. ("Is there something wrong?") She smiled and shook her head. ("No, we''re just surprised. We didn''t think you had something like cold resistance and your eyes look... a bit more unsettling in this dark cave than out by the lake.") I looked around the cave only just now realizing the entire thing had been lit from my eyes rather than any other source of light. I was becoming so used to the eerie white light of my eyes that I wasn''t even registering how dark a lot of these places were. ("Would you mind dragging one of these over? The two of them together are making it too cold for us to extract the frost organ,") she asked. I nodded. It was a bit odd they were no longer cold to me. I remembered their spit hurting me the first time I fought them. This time their slime was just a bit uncomfortable at best, I had taken the second one''s mucus head-on without any trouble. I shifted forms again and pulled the corpse up to the three of them before stepping away to give them room. I wanted to watch what they were doing, maybe I could help in the future. Maxwell rolled the body onto its back with the neck exposed. Then, digging into his pack he covered the lower half of his face with soft leather and put on thick gloves. Next, he pulled out a bundle of leather and unrolled it to reveal a half-dozen knives of different shapes and sizes. He selected one and then began to cut into the thick muscle of the monster''s neck. The cartilage was a bit tougher there I remember, easier to pull out than pull apart. I blinked, realizing I was fantasizing about ripping the monster''s neck out. Damn, I was really fucked up now. I shook my head, I needed to watch this, this was important. He cut into the bottom of the monster''s throat before turning the body to the side and draining out the immediate blood from the area. If he had been preparing the meat to be taken then he may have drained the blood properly but Luna had said it was inedible, he was just getting it out of the way so he could get at his actual prize. Another knife was pulled from the bundle, this one serrated. He began to saw into the side of his neck while carefully going around a specific point. When he finished he pulled out two small chunks of meat dripping with frosty mucus. He wrapped that in some linen Piper had handed to him before putting it deep into his bigger-on-the-inside bag. Luna tapped me on the shoulder. ("This one is done, will you move this one and bring over the other one now? And uh, I guess you can start eating this one...") she said hesitantly. I nodded and dragged the corpse away from them before replacing it with the other one. I had seen enough. I might not be able to reproduce the exact knifework it required to extract the organs myself but I now knew what it looked like at least. It''s good I was such a tomboy because most of the girls I knew back home would have been too squeamish to watch that. Would I have been too squeamish?... I wasn''t sure anymore. I turned my back to the group, fully aware of how gruesome this might look to them, and began to dig into the frost salamander. It tasted as good as I remember, I closed my eyes and groaned at the exquisite flavor of the meat. I wasn''t much of a steak eater before, in fact, I had to force down the high-protein diet I was eating while I had been training for the triathlon. Now things were different, the taste of raw meat was amazing, better than anything I had ever eaten, and I couldn''t get enough. By the time I was finished with the first one, Maxwell had finished with the second one so I dug into that one too. Maxwell and Piper had stepped outside to avoid watching but Luna stood nearby and watched me eat. I didn''t know how to feel about that... but she didn''t comment on it after. I didn''t want her to see me like a monster... but sometimes I truly felt like one. Chapter 12

<~> Chapter 12 I licked my chops as we traveled back through the lake cavern and approached the mouth of the cave that all the disgusting goblins had run into. One advantage of being able to shift between forms was that it was easy to get rid of the blood... but not the looks that the others gave me. I tried not to let it bother me but it was obvious that my... eating habits were disturbing to the others. I couldn''t help it though, the monsters tasted too good. It was hard to avoid my mind wandering back to how much of a freak I had become but I squashed that feeling back down again. I didn''t have time for those thoughts. The familiar stink of the goblins touched my nose and I signaled for the group to stop. I closed my eyes and exhaled sharply before leaning towards the ground and sniffing. This felt a bit demeaning, to sniff the ground like an actual dog, but it actually helped me pick up scents so much better. I wasn''t smelling what was in that spot, I was pulling scents to me from farther away. It was an odd experience. ("Three near the opening,") I relayed to Luna. ("I smell two others nearby, they smell like feathers, probably archers, the scent seems too strong to be decorative. At least one of the three by the opening is asleep... his breath stinks.") I stood back up and snorted to clear the scents from my nose. Since my senses have expanded even ''bad'' scents are less offensive to me now. But there was just something about the unique mix of sweat and feces that made goblins especially disgusting. Luna wrote into the dirt and Maxwell confirmed the words out loud drawing a nod from her. He turned to Piper and had a short conversation before the two of them nodded he said something back to Luna. Luna pointed ahead. ("Since the passage is so tight Maxwell will go first so he can protect us with his shield. You''ll go in second so that you can support him from behind or swap if it becomes necessary. I''ll go third, if we alert them I''ll try to take out the archers as soon as one of us can see them. Piper will protect our rear and heal when required. Any objections?) she asked me. I shook my head. ("No. You''re more familiar with this kind of thing than I am. Just tell me if something changes, I don''t mind splitting off if I need to. Goblins don''t feel like much of a threat to me.") She nodded and stepped behind me. She gently put her hand on my back, making me realize how tense I actually was. I took a breath and forced myself to relax. Threat or not, the tension was anxiety-inducing. ("Thank you. I feel better now.") I whispered to her through the rings. She didn''t reply but I felt her hand pull away and heard her take a deep breath behind me too. Even if the goblins weren''t a threat individually, they were numerous and we were about to walk right into their territory. But why shouldn''t I? They''re weak, this should be my territory. I shook the thought away, it was starting to become easier to tell apart the instincts and my own thoughts but the more I could understand them the more disturbing they became. Maxwell pushed forward into the mouth of the cave. I was surprised just how quiet the man could move in armor like that. If I had been wearing something like that I would sound like a windchime, though perhaps not in my werewolf form. My instincts now told me how to skulk around unnoticed and I silently followed Maxwell through the cave. I suppose while the glowing white eyes would be advantageous a lot of the time, it was a hindrance while stalking prey so my instincts told me how to compensate for them. I got the impression that Maxwell was relying on them right now too though in place of a more conspicuous torch. We proceeded through the narrow cave when I noticed something and immediately pulled Maxwell back by his shoulder. ("Trap!") I told Luna. Maxwell looked back at me with a confused look before his eyes widened in understanding. ("There''s a thin tripwire. I don''t know what it''ll trigger though,") I further explained. The hair-thin wire gleamed and reflected the light of my eyes. I wasn''t sure if they could see it but I could see it bright as day. A whispered conversation between Piper and Maxwell ensued, further frustrating me that I could not follow their thought process. ("They decided to trigger it remotely from a distance so we''re going backwards a bit.") I nodded and followed their lead. ("How did the goblins set up something so sophisticated?") I asked Luna. ("I don''t think it was the goblins, I think it was the dungeon,") she replied. ("The dungeon? Does this mean it''s dissuading us from going forward?") She shrugged. ("It''s hard to say. It could mean that we''re so much stronger than the goblins, the dungeon is trying to thin us out. Or it could be a reminder to be careful by dropping a mostly harmless trap in our way to keep us on alert. The dungeon''s intentions can be hard to interpret.") We had reached a decent distance away so we decided to form up here. Maxwell started saying something to the group which Luna began to translate for me. ("Alright, I''m going to stay in front and stay completely behind my shield, Luna, you''ll try to trigger it remotely then fall back behind my shield. Helena, you listen for any secondary effects of the trap triggering. If we need to move one way or the other quickly you and Luna probably have the best ears to tell us about it. Piper, prepare to heal anyone who might get hurt. Is everyone ready?") Maxwell shot a questioning look at me. I nodded, confident that my gesture would be understood. He took a breath and leaned against the left wall so that Luna could cast her spell past us. A small fireball arced over to the spot where I had noticed the trap and popped just after Maxwell''s shield was in position again. The first thing I noticed was the grinding sounds of the metal spikes shoving out of hidden holes in the rock and embedding themselves into the other side. The entire thing made an ear-piercing sound as the metal spikes crumpled and bent against the wall before falling to the floor. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. I strained my ears for any other sounds but after a moment I shook my head, not hearing anything save the snoring of the sleeping goblin ahead of us. Maxwell said a short phrase which Luna translated for me. ("Moving forward.") Our group slowly moved forward to the trap and stopped where the tripwire had been. I looked up and down the tunnel intently before talking to Luna through the rings. ("I don''t see any other traps, at least none of the kind I would be able to detect.") Piper spoke for Luna this time, relaying the message to Maxwell. He nodded and we started to progress again. Without being asked I looked intently for any more signs of traps. I kept my ears perked and my eyes sharp but we didn''t come across anything more as we reached the exit to the tunnel. Maxwell whispered something and Luna translated for me. ("I''ll go on alone for a bit. If one of them is sleeping I''ll try and take the other two out without alerting any of the other goblins.") I nodded and lowered myself into a crouch, ready to dash forward if I needed to. I stretched my clawed hands as I prepared for the worst. Maxwell swung his shield to one side of him and advanced low to the ground. I couldn''t help but once again be impressed by his ability to move so quietly in all of that armor. He reached the end of the tunnel and stabbed into a goblin I couldn''t see before quickly spinning and taking out the one on the other side. The only sound he made the entire time was his armor clacking when he finally struck. The snoring that I had heard died out too without any sound. He stepped back into the cave and signaled us to catch up to him. ("Impressive,") I told Luna through the rings. ("He is, both of them have had to work extra hard to cover for me...") I frowned. I wasn''t sure how to reply so I just chose not to. I didn''t know enough about the situation yet but it made me sad to hear her put herself down like that. When we reached him I peeked around the corner. The bodies of the goblins were slumped against the wall. Two had large stab wounds to their heart, the one on the other side of the others had been completely decapitated. He subvocalized something to us so quietly that I doubt even Piper could hear what he said. ("Maxwell is asking if you can take the archers out silently. They''re too high up for him to climb quietly while wearing armor.") I nodded and he let me slink past. I couldn''t afford to let myself be heard at this stage so I took things slowly. The archers on either side of the cliffs weren''t really paying attention but they weren''t asleep either. They looked like they were just watching the other goblins walk around below them while bored. They were poor lookouts. I climbed the cliff, a bit challenging but not impossible with my sharp claws. I made it up to the first of the two and held his jaw shut as my claws sunk into his heart from behind. The goblin didn''t make any noise but he did spit up his disgusting blood on my hand. I wiped the blood off my hands and rolled him over to make it look like he just fell asleep. The other would be more challenging. I''d have to climb down, sneak through the space between the two cliffs without being seen, and climb back up on the other side. Wait, no. I looked over the gap... I can make it if I jump. Could I do so silently though? I felt like I could but I wasn''t sure. Do I risk it? What''s more risky, climbing back down and up or jumping the gap? I tossed the idea around for a few seconds before deciding the jump would actually be less risky. I shook my shoulders and prepared myself to get a running start. I took a breath, one, two, three! I leaped the gap, my arms naturally reaching forward to help me land on all fours on the other side. Unfortunately, I wasn''t as completely silent as I had hoped, and the goblin I was preparing to kill turned and looked at me with wide eyes. I dashed toward him and he let out a small cry of alarm right before I stabbed my claws deep into his chest. The goblin blurbled blood onto my other hand as he died. I looked around to see if any of the other goblins had heard that. No. It looks like I''m safe. I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard Luna''s voice basically whisper right into my ear. ("Good job. We''re heading forward now. You stay up there and keep a lookout.") I took a breath to steady myself after the nearly failed stealth mission followed by the jumpscare from my own teammate. ("Alright. I''ll keep an eye out.") I had to be careful up here and rely not only on my sight but also on my smell and hearing as well. Umber hounds'' eyes can make them easy to spot but if you were far enough away and didn''t know what you were looking for, the light probably wouldn''t be that noticeable. That''s what my instincts told me but for once I didn''t know how much I agreed. It was dark in here and I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb. I remember seeing the umber hound''s eyes that night on the mountain. I''ll never forget that monster''s face. For now, there was nothing else I could do so we proceeded through the goblin''s ''fortress'' of scrap metal and rocks, silently killing each and every one of them. This seemed more like an extermination than a fight for survival but something deep inside of me was revolted by those things and I couldn''t bring myself to care that we were quietly killing them one by one. I think I need a therapist. Chapter 13

<~> Chapter 13 We had spent several hours working our way through the goblin camp. I became comfortable leaping from cliff to cliff silently as I took out the lookouts and archers. Goblins were more intelligent than animals but they were still incredibly dumb. They were also selfish and cruel. More than once I had made mistakes that should have gotten me caught. Twice the goblins didn''t notice when their allies went missing and once a goblin even laughed when he found one of them dead not long before he joined them. In our time working our way through the camp we also found several piles of humanoid remains where they had thrown the decomposing bodies of the people they had taken captive once they had perished. For better or worse we didn''t come across anyone alive as we made our way through the horde of creatures. Not even the few hobgoblins in the group had given us any trouble. We just slowly made our way through, dividing and conquering the monsters. After a while I began to question the purpose of this, the group wasn''t really taking things from the goblins. I didn''t understand how killing these goblins was making my party members any stronger. I would have asked but it didn''t seem like the time to bring it up, all of us were focused on making our way through the camp. Once we had killed all of the goblins we could find we were gathered in front of a makeshift door to a large hut the size of a circus tent made entirely from sheets of scrap metal. ("Maxwell says that through this door is the goblin''s leader. It''s either a goblin shaman or a newly ascended goblin king. They are only able to get this organized under those two conditions.") I nodded and flexed my claws. I hadn''t shifted back to my human form since we started, it was easier to keep myself focused on the hunt in this shape. The goblins weren''t any match for me physically but this experience had been invaluable in gaining a sense of what my limits were when trying to remain stealthy and hunt. I was strong, I wasn''t sure if these things were even capable of hurting me, but not everything I would encounter would be weaker than I am. I also couldn''t help but admit that it felt good to stalk them. ("What''s our plan when we go in there? Should we try and ambush it?") I asked Luna. She scribbled some words in the dirt and heard Maxwell''s reply before responding to me. ("No, Max says it wouldn''t be worth the trouble to ambush either of them. It would be better to face them head on where we can set up to work as a team.") ("Sure, what should I do then?") I asked. Maxwell drew a little diagram in the dirt as Luna narrated the plan to me. In simple terms, he would go in first with his shield to try and hold its attention. In the case of a shaman, Luna would be working on counterspells and disruption, if the enemy is a goblin king, then small offensive attacks that avoid friendly fire. Piper would stay near Maxwell and take advantage of any openings where she could while keeping him healed up. I would try to circle around it and get in any hits I could when it was vulnerable. He said I would be taking the place of their rogue. ("Why wouldn''t I just fight it directly like Maxwell?") I asked Luna. She relayed the message in the dirt and then gave Maxwell''s response back to me. ("He says, so far we''ve been using you like a scout so he was thinking of you as a rogue. But he wouldn''t be opposed to you taking some of the monster''s attention in the front if that''s what you want to do. You haven''t directly said how you like to fight, other than what we saw at the frost salamanders. N-no offense but he says you fight more like an animal than someone he can usually account for, so he''s not sure how to plan around you.") I reached up to cup my chin before realizing my hand and wolf''s muzzle didn''t really fit together the same way. How would I like to fight? I''ve mainly been guided on instinct this whole time rather than giving any thought toward how I intended to fight. Ripping things apart and optionally eating them is all I know how to do. I looked back at Luna. ("I don''t really know how I fight, I''ve only been going off of instinct. I''ll try to do as Maxwell says, getting shots in where I can. I might try and grab his attention if necessary but I''ll try and follow Maxwell''s lead.") Maxwell nodded in response and made some kind of hand gesture at me. He held three fingers up sideways but it wasn''t anything recognizable to me. ("What''s that mean?") I asked Luna. She giggled. ("That means... good? Or okay? Hmm... in some contexts it means we''re friends. It''s kind of ambiguous now that I think about it.") Soon the four of us formed up at the makeshift door. Maxwell lifted his shield to shoulder height and Piper pulled it open as he began to push in. I would have been relieved that we were fighting a more physical based enemy if it wasn''t for how fucking huge that goblin was. Some of the Hobgoblins were about the size of a human, unlike most of the goblins, but the goblin king was more like eight feet tall. Sure I was nearly a match for it in height in my werewolf form but the thing was gigantic for a goblin, especially compared to my new friends. The thing was sitting on a throne that was slapped together with all sorts of different materials. Despite its somewhat grand size, the thing was made from junk and didn''t look all that comfortable to sit on. The monster jumped in his chair when he saw us and essentially roared at us before waiting expectantly. The monster''s eyes widened when no other goblins came running to join him other than the three others that had already been in here with him. My goal was to stay mostly out of sight initially so I was keeping low to the ground on all fours behind Maxwell, letting him keep most of the attention as we approached. I would look for a good opportunity before trying to get behind it. The other goblins scrabbled to their feet and moved to surround us but Luna was quick to start hurling small balls of fire at them, forcing them to jump and dodge out of the way. The heavy-looking goblin king jumped to his feet and immediately came charging at Maxwell who caught the monster with his shield. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Unlike most fights with our group Maxwell, Piper, and Luna kept to a tight formation, not risking drawing the goblin king''s attention to themselves in this fight. I slinked out from the group and made my way around the goblin king who was fruitlessly pounding at the man''s shield with its fists. Maxwell rocked back with each blow but it looked intentional so I didn''t worry about it. The first thing I took care of was the other goblins, quickly dispatching the one that had managed to escape Luna''s fire magic before finishing off the partially burnt ones that were screaming on the floor. Once that was taken care of I positioned myself behind the king who was still focused on Maxwell. In the time I had been working on the other loose goblins, my group hadn''t made any headway with the goblin king. Luna''s fire attacks were rolling off its skin, completely ineffective, and between Maxwell and Piper, the thing only had a few shallow cuts on its legs. The fight wasn''t going well so far but at least the thing hadn''t hurt any of them yet. I aimed for the creature''s back, right where its heart should be, and decided to see if I could claw right through its ribcage. My entire hand sunk into its back to my third knuckle but I somehow knew I didn''t hit anything important. All I did was piss it off. The thing pushed off of Maxwell''s shield and spun around to roar at me. Halfway through its roar, its eyes went wide as it looked at me. It appears that my friends aren''t the only ones that recognize an umber hound. Before I could stop myself I planted all four of my limbs to the ground and roared back at it, challenging it as it had challenged me. Its face twisted in a rage that I hadn''t expected and the thing charged at me with its arms stretched out as if to tackle me. The thing was slow compared to me though and I easily ducked under its arm and slashed my claws through its left side. Right as I spun around to face him again a giant cleaver-like sword dug through my neck all the way to my chest. I coughed blood. I couldn''t breathe. The goblin king kicked me and I tumbled backward and rolled twice before I flopped onto my back. I coughed again but I only tasted more blood, there was too much in my airways. I was drowning. Piper ran up to me as a sudden explosion of fire rocked the entire building. I could hear the monster''s scream but I could only focus on coughing and trying to regain my breath. Piper said something unintelligible as she pushed the two halves of my body back together. My entire left side felt numb but the moment my body was back in one piece I could feel a cold prickling through my chest. I coughed out the last of the blood and my breath stabilized. I sat up against Piper''s insistent pushing, she was trying to hold me down. Stopping me from taking my revenge on that disgusting goblin. HOW DARE HE ATTACK ME WITH THAT CHEAP TRICK? I pushed myself to my feet and spat out more blood, the last of what was in my mouth. Hot anger traveled up my spine as my smoky fur prickled out in all directions. Before I knew it, a deep rumbling growl was shaking my chest. Piper quickly jumped away from me, no longer willing to hold me back from that horrid wretch. My chest expanded with air as I took a deep breath and stared at my prey. A cold focus washed over me. The goblin king was burnt on the entire left side of his body and his arm on that side was limp. In the creature''s right hand was the bloody cleaver sword that had nearly bisected me through the middle. Its eyes were focused on Maxwell and looked glassy as if they were in a trance. Unimportant. I howled, the noise comforting to my ears but everyone else, friend and foe alike, stumbled back and covered their ears. The moment I stopped I was on top of the goblin. The weakened creature was on its back, I don''t remember leaping on it but it doesn''t matter. I would kill it for making me look weak. My teeth tore into its neck as my foreclaws ripped open its chest. I wanted to rip this thing to shreds, make it completely unrecognizable. The meat and gore were horrendous but I didn''t care, the only thing I cared about was making this thing pay. I grabbed tight around something in its chest to hold it in place and give me leverage to rip off its arm. With that done I tossed it to the side and pulled its ribs apart from the inside out, the sound of cracking bone filled my ears. Then I found the heart. I never wanted to eat one of these disgusting creatures but this stood out to me. Before I knew what I was doing, I was devouring the black diseased heart. I was nearly heaving as the grotesque meat slid down my throat, its taste sickened me but I felt compelled. I couldn''t help myself. I kept eating it. With my unintentional meal finished I staggered to the side. I felt sick. I felt putrid. I was covered in blood. I could hear voices but I couldn''t understand them. Even the speaking in my head felt so far away. I turned and looked at my packmates. They looked frightened but I couldn''t understand why, the monster was dead. I turned back to the corpse of the monster and vomited. It was a relief, revolting bile followed the chunks of meat. The inside of its chest was so destroyed that the heart was indistinguishable from the rest of the viscera. I took a shaky step back from the monster and glanced back at my packmates. I tried to take a step toward them but fell forward onto my belly. I wasn''t able to get my arms under me in time so I just fell forward without catching myself, my head hit the ground and cracked the floor. I felt so weak. So tired. My eyes fluttered closed and it felt like I was being submerged in water. I began to lose consciousness. My body started to shrink. More garbled words tumbled through my ears as I staved off the darkness and tried to stay awake. I failed. Sleep took me. Chapter 14

<~> Chapter 14 I woke with a start, eyes wide and heart pounding. I sat up and looked around. Where was the monster? ("Helena! Helena, it''s okay! You''re safe, you''re okay!") Luna was next to me tightly gripping my arm and stopping me from jumping up. I stopped to catch my breath and look around. We were at the lake again, I was lying on a blanket a little ways off from the fire. I was a human again. My breath evened out as I thought about what happened. The goblins... the goblin king... I was fighting it then everything became a haze. Wait! I was nearly cut in half! I felt around my shoulder where the blade had dug into me but there was nothing. I was still wearing the armor I found in the lake but it was still pristine, completely undamaged. Nothing even hurt, I felt fine. Rubbing my face I turned to Luna. ("What happened? The last thing I can remember was when the goblin king nearly cut me in half. Did Piper save me?") She frowned in concern. ("No, she told me that after that attack she tried to stabilize you to try and keep you alive but once she pushed your body back together your natural healing took over. After that, you went berserk and ripped the goblin king into pieces while we watched. We were worried you were going to turn on us before you vomited and fell over.") I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the fragmented memories of what happened. I remember... that taste. I couldn''t stop a grimace from coming across it as the memory of that taste on my tongue grossed me out. I remember... tearing it apart... I was so angry. I remember... the heart. My eyes went wide. Wait! This has happened before. I remember eating the heart of the frost salamanders too... but why? I shook my head. I remember looking at my... packmates. I wouldn''t have hurt them, I wanted to protect them. I turned back to Luna. ("I remember bits and pieces. But when I was wrapped up deep in my instincts I recognized all of you as my packmates... friends. I wouldn''t have hurt you. If anything I was confused why you were frightened.") Luna cupped my cheek and turned me to face her. She had a concerned smile on her face as her soft thumb traveled across my cheek. ("I''m glad to hear that and I''m happy you''re okay... I was watching when the goblin hit you with its sword... I thought you died...") The tone of her voice through the rings was so sad. We just met and she would have mourned me if I died. The emotions made my chest tight and tears threatened to form in my eyes. I had to look away. ("I''m sorry.") I managed to whisper out. She scooted closer to me and pulled my head to her chest. I couldn''t help myself and I started to cry. I''m not sure why I was crying, what triggered it, or why I couldn''t stop. I just kept sobbing into her bosom. She just held me there for a long time until I eventually got control of myself again. ("I feel so sleepy,") I whispered out to her. Luna brushed a lock of hair out of my eyes and smiled down at me. ("Then sleep. I''ll be nearby when you wake up.") I laid back down on the rough blanket and passed out the moment I got comfortable. *** I woke up in a haze once again. I felt groggy like I had barely slept but I had been laying there long enough that my back was feeling sore from the hard ground. I rubbed my face and looked around again. The cool air and pleasant smell of the lake greeted me, the only place in this hell hole that brought me any kind of comfort. Maxwell, Piper, and Luna were sitting by the fire, presumably talking about me. I could hear their low chatter from where I was lying. That goblin had caught me off guard and pushed my instincts to take over. Now that I had gotten a bit more sleep, I was able to remember more of what happened. My emotions had taken complete control of me, the only reason I didn''t attack my new friends was the... animal inside of me recognized them as allies too. I was lucky... I couldn''t imagine what I would have done if I woke up after murdering the three of them. I swallowed back the bile that threatened to come up. I felt like crap. I wasn''t in pain exactly but I was sore all over. It reminded me of the first few times I started training for the triathlon. Any amount of exercise was too much for me at the time and I paid for it the next day, this felt similar. I groaned as I pulled myself to my feet and headed over to the group sitting by the fire. A concerned look spread across Maxwell''s face as he saw me approach but I wasn''t sure if he was concerned for me or concerned of me. Truthfully, it would be fair either way. With a grunt I sat down next to Luna who reached over and gently grabbed my knee, giving me some much-needed reassurance. ("How are you feeling?") she asked me. ("Better but sore...") I replied. She nodded at me before scribbling my words in the sand to the other two. The two of them exchanged a look before asking Luna a question. ("They want to know what happened... from your perspective.") I sighed heavily and stared at the fire. ("I remember more of what happened now. My instincts took over when I nearly died. Or at least, when I got cut in half.) Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ("Why... did you eat part of the goblin king? We never saw you do that to the other goblins.") I grimaced. ("I honestly don''t know. I had no control over my actions, I couldn''t stop myself and I just ended up throwing it up afterwards.") When Luna finished scribbling out my response there was a lull in the conversation. Eventually, Maxwell asked something else and Luna turned to translate for me again. ("You told me earlier that you saw us as your ''packmates,'' what does that mean?") I looked back up at them, looking each of them in the eye for a moment. ("Even when I was fully consumed by my instincts I felt protective of all of you. In that state, I was confused why you were still frightened after I killed the monster. Whatever happened to me completely exhausted me though and I passed out before I realized that I was the one you were scared of.") Luna frowned at that but wrote it out in the sand for them. Maxwell sighed and Piper slumped down a little in response. Before they could respond though I decided to add something. ("It''s okay that you''re scared of me. I don''t blame you. I''m scared of myself... to be honest. Before I came here I wouldn''t have been capable of any of this... killing creatures with my own hands...") I wrapped my knees up in my arms and looked back down into the fire. ("I don''t know what I''ve become.") Rather than translate my words Luna wrapped herself around me and held me in a hug. I turned to her and gave her a pained smile. She let go of me and translated what I said to the other two. As time went on this language barrier became more and more irritating. There was a divide between us that can''t really be bridged by Luna''s translations. I had done my best to learn some of their words but I couldn''t even begin to explain myself in their tongue when I barely knew many words at all. Once Luna finished the two others had a short conversation between them before turning back to Luna to tell me something more. ("Maxwell says that he might not have been completely fair to you so far. You seem like an intelligent person but it''s a little hard to get over your... eyes and other abilities... One moment you speak with understanding the next you''re ripping a monster apart. He says it makes it hard to trust you...") Luna sounded a little sad to repeat his words. I sighed and nodded. ("I understand.") Maxwell spoke more and Luna translated, ("However, you''ve been a great help to us so far. If you are able to show restraint toward us even when you aren''t in complete control of yourself, we should give you some benefit of the doubt. You''ll have to be more careful when fighting dangerous enemies but so far I trust you.") My eyes widened. Piper added something and Luna translated that too. ("When I was trying to stop you from getting up you didn''t attack me, or snap at me like a common dog might. You just got up and attacked our actual enemy. I trust you too.") There was a lump in my throat and tears ran down my face. I let out a shaky breath. I had been afraid... afraid they would turn on me, abandon me, but they didn''t. They gave me another chance. I sniffled at wiped the tears away. I had to change the subject. ("W-what happened after I passed out?") They nodded to Luna and she spoke for herself this time. ("When you passed out you changed back into your human form. We waited a little to see if you were going to get back up and when you didn''t Piper checked if you were still alive. You didn''t seem to need any healing and you were still breathing so Maxwell picked you up and carried you back here. We killed nearly all of the goblins so we didn''t come across any on the way back and other than the frost salamanders, there shouldn''t be any other enemies on this floor. We just decided to rest and see how long it would take before you woke back up.") I nodded numbly. I didn''t know how to feel, I looked up at Luna. ("What should we do next?") Luna furrowed her brows and turned to Maxwell before writing out my words. He sighed and leaned back before saying something in his language. ("Maxwell says that we should probably start heading up. Nearly dying to the goblin king means that that you need better training.") ("The goblin king is the first thing I''ve come across that''s been even remotely dangerous to me. If we go up, won''t that continue to be true?") I asked. Maxwell tilted his head in thought before replying. After a moment Luna translated. ("So what you''re saying is that if you want to get better at fighting you need stronger enemies to fight, not weaker ones? He says that''s not unreasonable. He wants to ask me and Piper what we think. Give us a moment.") I nodded as they began a conversation without me. It didn''t seem like this would be a quick chat so I stepped away and looked over the lake. The cool air was relaxing. What was wrong with me? I nearly died and my suggestion is to go deeper into this hell hole? I was conflicted. I wanted to be stronger, or at least, a part of me did. The other side of me was scared of what I was becoming, scared of continuing to fight for survival. What did I actually want? ...The first thing that came to mind was Luna. I covered my mouth as I blushed. Let''s be serious here. I want to survive. My unfocused community college associate degree probably wasn''t going to amount to much in this world. The way these guys talked, hunting things in dungeons was lucrative. There was also the other problem... if I ever wanted to get back home I would need the money or influence to afford it. That wasn''t something I could get if I went up to the top of this dungeon city and became a day laborer. What else could I do if I can''t even speak the language? I sighed. Is there even any choice here? From a logical path, getting stronger and making money from hunting made the most sense... From the emotional side... I was hungry for it. My new and ever-present instincts were dying for the thrill of the hunt and the money was merely a side benefit. I cracked my knuckles and the bones in my wrists. As horrible as that last fight ended it had been a thrill when it started. Killing the smaller goblins and coming at the goblin king from behind. There was also one more factor. I looked at the reflection of my eerie white eyes in the lake. I might need some more strength to protect myself. People weren''t always kind to one another and my creepy white eyes and shapeshifting abilities might make people scared enough to attack me. I needed to at least be strong enough to make people pause before considering it and decide the risk wasn''t worth it if I wasn''t attacking them first. I was lucky these three had been as accepting as they had been. Things could be much worse right now. I took a deep breath of the cool lakeside air. Everything was pointing me in one direction. I don''t know if it was logic or emotion that pushed me to continue, but I wanted to. Chapter 15

<~> Chapter 15 Maxwell was leading us to the dungeon stairs he had seen when we were clearing out the goblins. After their conversation, they concluded that with the group like it was, we could afford to go a little deeper. The deciding factor, I had been told, was my own regeneration. If I could get nearly bisected and still stand up from it then I wouldn''t need much of Piper''s healing. I had noticed pretty early on that I was healing quickly since things started changing for me but the incident with the goblin king showed me how far it actually went. And so we reached a stone stairway that tunneled deep into the ground. I had seen these stairs when we were walking through here before but I didn''t think anything of them. I had no way of knowing that these were magic stairs and would take us to another floor of this so-called dungeon. I ran my hands across the smooth polished stone of the stairs. They looked carved from a solid block of dark-colored marble. Impossibly pristine and seamless the stone traveled deeper into the ground as if the entire stairwell was made from a single piece. Above the stairs was a similar slanted ceiling made of the same marble, I could just reach it in my transformed state. The stairwell would make me a bit claustrophobic but I wouldn''t have to worry about actually getting stuck. ("Maxwell says that he doesn''t know much about the seventeenth floor, he hadn''t expected us to go past this floor with our previous teammate. We''re going to be scouting this new floor out carefully but we''ll come back up the stairs to camp. Now that the goblin king is dead, the area near the stairs should remain clear of goblins for a while, making it one of the safer places in the dungeon at the moment.) I nodded. I headed down the stairs first, the combination of my regeneration and enhanced senses made me the ideal person to take point. I also didn''t need an additional light to see like my friends behind me, in fact, their torches made it harder for me to see. My gait in my taller form made going down the stairs a little awkward, it felt more comfortable to take two stairs at a time but it meant I couldn''t go too fast or else the ones following me would fall behind. After about ten straight minutes of stairs, I could smell pine trees. I took a deep breath, a bit confused by the smell but no, it was obviously pine trees. I was curious what I would find up ahead so I let myself speed up a little and scout ahead. When I finally reached the end of the stairs, they opened up into a... forest? The pine trees that surrounded me were tall, at least three or four stories tall. That wasn''t so weird but the way the stairs just led to a spooky forest was. It was dark out, not quite pitch black if I had to guess but my eyes made it a bit hard to tell how much ambient light there was. It couldn''t have been any darker than the lightless caves I woke up in. On top of that, there was a lot of fog so even with my eyes I couldn''t see that far, maybe fifty feet ahead. I glanced back at the stairs, they came out of an archway that stood alone in the middle of nothing, behind the stairs was a flat surface that couldn''t exist as far as I was concerned. The other side of the stairs should be there, not just a flat wall. I just chalked it up to more dungeon weirdness as I watched my surroundings while my friends caught up with me. It was quiet here. The only thing that could be heard was the rustling of trees in the wind, no birds, no insects, just wind. I closed my eyes for a minute and focused on my sense of smell. I grew up in a desert but I have been to the East Coast before, I was familiar with some of the smells of a forest. My new senses made everything sharp though, I could smell the pine needles, the subtle rot of the ones that were on the ground, the humidity in the air, sweet smells from flowers, and musky ones from animals. I wasn''t entirely sure what to expect but I could tell there were actual animals around despite the dead silence. I would think the birds were just sleeping but like the moonlit lake, I didn''t expect there to be a sunrise here. Maxwell reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around with a grimace. I listened to him carefully trying to pick up his words. They still sounded foreign to me but I tried hard to listen to everyone talk whenever I could. Maybe if I listened enough I would start to pick things up. He waved for the two others to follow us down after determining it was safe enough at the base of the stairs. I turned to keep watch as they came down the rest of the way. ("Helena, do you see anything?") Luna asked. ("No. I do smell animals but I haven''t seen any since I''ve come down here. The fog is thick enough that I can''t see too far out either.) I looked behind me just in time to catch a grimace as she dug at the ground. ("What''s wrong?") I asked. She gave a scratchy sigh. ("I won''t be able to write in the ground here, the dirt is too packed to write in the sand and dirt like I did on the upper floor. It will be a lot harder to relay messages for a while.") I frowned and nodded. The motion caught her attention. ("The fog makes your eyes light up big cones in front of you. Between that and the torches, it''ll be impossible to sneak up on things on this floor.") I looked as far into the distance as I could through the trees I could tell what she meant. It was like my eyes were giant headlights in front of me and unlike the torches, I couldn''t turn them off, at least as long as I wanted to see things ahead of me. ("How dark is it? It''s hard for me to tell since my eyes changed,") I asked her. I closed my eyes to let her look around. ("It''s dark out but manageable with the torches. ...your eyes might be making it harder to see. The fog is making them look a lot brighter than normal and it''s reflecting the light back.") I grimaced. That was bad news but not entirely unexpected from my own observations. ("Can you see farther in the fog with my eyes closed?") ("...Unfortunately, it seems so,") Luna replied. I frowned. ("It seems like I won''t be that useful as a scout on this floor.") ("Maybe. We''re not sure what kind of monsters are on this floor though so it might not be needed anyway. Goblins are most dangerous when you don''t detect them, other kinds of monsters aren''t always the same.") Maxwell said something to Luna and she shook her head and poked at the ground. Piper said something to her next and she nodded in reply. After a little while Maxwell had picked a direction that we would head. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ("How are we going to keep track of where we''re going in the forest?") I asked Luna. She smiled. ("The same way you kept track in the caves. Like the caves on the previous floor, the trees heal over time so we have to make sure to reapply our marks as time goes on.") She pointed to Maxwell just as he was taking out a knife to carve a symbol into one of the trees. I stepped up to Maxwell and looked over the symbol. ("What does this symbol mean?") I asked Luna. ("That''s the south mark with a numeral under it. It''s customary to count the dungeon entrance as ''north'' for the purposes of dungeon delving. We use south marks as we go further from the stairs. We don''t normally use the other marks, just south marks. But if you''re told to go ''east'' or ''west,'' that means perpendicular to the last southmark that''s been placed in the dungeon, and ''north'' means back to the entrance,") she explained. ("How do you know if you''re getting further away from the dungeon entrance? It would be easy to get turned around in a place like this.") She shrugged. ("It doesn''t really matter. We just try to follow the numerals back on the previous path. That''s the best we can do since there are no stars and the sun doesn''t change down here.") ("What about a compass?") I asked. ("A sun compass can be useful when the sun is visible but doesn''t help at night or when it''s foggy. It''s so unreliable that most people just use the marks.") I furrowed my brows. ("No, I meant a magnetic compass.") ("Magnetic? I don''t know what that means.") Huh... ("Like metal or rocks that attract metal?") ("Oh! You mean a lodestone? I''m not sure how that relates to a sun compass... Lodestones are kind of rare but alchemists tend to use them in their work. Sometimes we come across them in the dungeon. They''re usually worth taking back because they''re pretty valuable.") I hesitantly nodded. Was a lodestone a natural magnet? I think I had heard the name before but I wasn''t really sure. I guess it didn''t matter, they didn''t seem to have compasses yet. Or at least magnetized compasses, I''ve never heard of a ''sun compass'' before. I suddenly heard a noise that caught my attention and I turned to face it. Whatever I had heard had frozen in place off in the direction I was facing. ("Luna, there''s something in that direction.") I said pointing. ("I''ll tell Piper.") Piper turned to look at me and I continued to point in the direction I was facing, I still didn''t see any movement but my eyes made seeing at all difficult in this foggy forest. Maxwell lifted his shield and started pushing through the brush in that direction. There was a loud groan that shook my nerves to the core. The sound came right out of a horror movie, I couldn''t even describe the strange noise, I didn''t know what to compare it to. Something like pained groaning but much louder than it should be, the noise verged on the edge of being shrill but didn''t quite make it there. Off in the distance and all around us, I could hear more of the noises create a refrain. The thing was calling out to others and they were echoing back their wailing groans. Maxwell bolted forward as soon as he heard the refrain, the idea of this thing calling more was enough to get him moving. ("Helena, close your eyes,") Luna quickly asked. I closed my eyes and focused on my hearing. Other than the wind and the clinking of Maxwell''s armor I couldn''t hear anything else around us yet. I lowered to the ground and started taking short sniffs to see if I could smell anything that would indicate danger. I picked up the scent of the thing that Maxwell was headed toward. Rotting flesh. I felt the heat of Luna''s fire come to life around us just as Maxwell made contact with the monster I had yet to see. Its wailing groan pitched up and turned to a crying scream as Maxwell hacked into it. Another noise! Behind us! I spun around and opened my eyes just in time to see something bolting at us. It looked like the corpse of a rotting deer, animated and bounding towards us. On its head was the skull of a wolf, with the undead deer''s crooked horns pushing through unnatural holes in the skull, below the upper jaw of the skull were long sharp teeth that looked out of place on the creature. As it got closer I ducked down and leaped up at it just in time to catch the thing midair. My muscles strained as I redirected its momentum and threw it at the ground, which elicited another pained scream that matched the thing Maxwell was fighting. The monster started thrashing, its hooves and horns made it hard for me to get any closer as it flailed on its side, trying to scrabble back to its hooves. Luna''s floating balls of fire that had been circling our group converged on the monster and lit it up, the disgusting smell of burning rotting flesh filled the forest. I reeled back from the heat and the smell, putting a little distance between the two of us. The monster took the opportunity the fire gave it to stumble back to its feet and get away from me. Its howling screams carried through the forest as it ran away. Maxwell reappeared from the brush, a dark stain of blood coating his blade. He yelled something that I could tell meant something along the lines of RUN without any kind of translation. We ran back the way we came, following the marks that Maxwell had been leaving on the trees. Nine, eight, seven, we moved from mark to mark until finally, the dark marble stairs came back into view. The wailing groans were getting closer, converging on our position even as we made it to the stairs. Maxwell yelled something to us and Luna translated for me. ("He says to go up the stairs in reverse formation! He''ll follow us in last with his shield!") That meant I was in second to last. I positioned myself next to the entrance of the stairway and looked out for the creatures. First Piper, then Luna started heading up the stairs. I could now see the things in the trees, tall partially skeletal animated animal corpses were gathering all around us. I headed up the stairs backward, just in case I needed to help Maxwell out if things got bad. Once I was headed up the stairs Maxwell followed behind and continued to be a bulwark for the creatures and the rest of our group. The wailing screams and groans faded as we ascended the stairs, none of the tall horrifying creatures followed us as we made our way back up. Chapter 16

<~> Chapter 16 I sat on the ground still panting from the non-stop march up the stairs. Luna had told me that monsters very rarely follow people upstairs but I wasn''t the only of us who didn''t want to take that risk and didn''t stop climbing the stairs till we made it to the top. I shifted back to my human form on the way up to spare myself the embarrassment of panting like a dog in front of my friends. I''m not sure if it was the right move though because I was now sweating and had to pull my sticky hair out of my face. I looked at Luna. ("What the hell were those things? They look right out of a fucking horror movie.") She raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar term but decided to move past it. ("I''m not sure what kind of monsters those were, they looked undead but I can''t be sure. Let me ask Maxwell...") She scratched the question in the dirt as Maxwell and Piper talked. I listened in, trying hard to pick up some of their words. Maxwell shook his head and Luna translated, ("He says he doesn''t know what those things are. He also thinks they''re undead based on how they looked but they don''t look like anything he''s heard described before. I told him that they didn''t seem especially weak to fire though, which is confusing.") As the others continued to talk I excused myself and stepped away for a moment. I looked around the dark remains of the goblin camp. All of the torches and braziers the goblins were using have burned out by now so the only areas that were lit up were our torches and my eyes. This place felt reassuring now, I could actually see up here. The murky fog that got worse because of my eyes made me feel like dead weight. I sat on a wall made of oblong stones and messy mortar and just looked around for a while. I jumped when Luna''s hand touched my shoulder. ("Are you okay?") she asked me. Mulling over my thoughts I turned to look at her. Even in my human form I was a bit taller than her, if not for her fox ears. ("...On this floor I feel useful. I could sneak, hunt, and scout without many issues. In that forest my eyes make it harder to see, not only for myself but for everyone... I don''t like getting in your way and being in the dungeon means that fog will probably never clear up.") The fox girl sat down next to me and put her hand on my knee, gently rubbing it while she looked lost in thought. After a few quiet moments she replied, ("I think I understand how you feel. My muteness makes things hard on everyone... Before we came across you I could barely communicate at all, especially on floors like that one where there is nothing to write on. After a while the two of them sometimes forget I''m there when they get lost in conversation... I would only be a burden if I tried to talk with them more, Maxwell would be fatigued from bottoming out on mana and Piper wouldn''t be able to heal. So I''ve had to quietly accept it and get used to feeling alone all the time...") I wrapped an arm around Luna and pulled her into a side hug. She looked up at me with surprise, her eyes were watery from her held-back tears. I squeezed her once and looked into her eyes. ("...I''m sorry you''ve had to go through that. Talk to me as much as you need to. I''ll always listen.") There wasn''t much more I could say so I just squeezed her once more and let her relax and lean against me. We sat there in silence for a while, looking over the ruins of the goblin city. ("We should head back. I''m sure the two of them have come to some sort of conclusion by now,") Luna whispered through the rings. She stood up and watched to make sure I was following before leading the two of us back to our camp by the stairs. Maxwell and Piper had spent the time getting a campfire going and were idly talking when we returned. I sat on the floor across from Maxwell and turned to Luna. ("So, what are we doing about that floor?") Luna relayed the question in the dirt in front of us, the question made Maxwell grimace. He replied after a moment and Luna relayed it to me, ("He says that he''s not sure what to do. Individually he doesn''t think the monsters are that tough but none of us can take on all of them at once. They''re also hard to spot in the fog and... your eyes make it worse.") I frowned and nodded. ("He asks if there''s any way for you to... turn it off?") I closed my eyes and took a breath, trying to pull on the same feeling as the one that lets me shift between forms and trying to focus it on my eyes. When I opened them again... they still lit everything up. I shook my head. ("I don''t think so, if I can then I don''t know how.") After reading Luna''s response in the dirt he sighed and nodded. He then asked something to Luna who looked confused by the question. She turned to me. ("Helena, how did you see the first one when we were still talking? Or, come to think of it, how did you see the one that was coming up behind us?") I furrowed my brows. ("I didn''t see them until you all did. I heard them moving through the woods.") Luna''s eyebrows raised, ("You heard them? It was silent down there until they all started screaming.") I shook my head, ("It was quiet but I could hear them coming. The first one was trying to sneak up on us but the second one was rushing through the underbrush.") She hastily scribbled that into the dirt which got some excited chattering between Maxwell and Piper. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ("They''re saying that if you can hear them coming then we should be able to move through the area without getting surrounded. Maxwell is confident the two of them can kill the monsters before they can signal more to come join them. He says he was just being too cautious when he came up on the monster and didn''t know he needed to silence them and stop them from calling more. If you can warn us which direction they''re in and roughly how close, we can make our way through the area without too much trouble. We''ve done floors like this before in the other dungeon.") ("Are you sure this is a good idea?") I asked her. ("If we make any mistakes we could still get surrounded.") She scribbled the words in the dirt and after a short few words between the other two Luna replied to me. ("Trust is a two-way road. We''ve seen how accurate your senses have been, we''re willing to rely on them. Are you willing to trust that Maxwell and Piper can take the monsters out without making a mistake?") Trust. I wasn''t sure. Maybe I didn''t trust them, or maybe I was just being too cautious. I guess... this would be the first time I''m truly putting my life into their hands. Everything else that we''ve fought was ultimately handled by my own strength, even the goblin king despite being nearly cut in half. Would I be able to trust them? I took a breath. I would try. I would try to trust them, they found me and they''ve helped me out a lot so far. I think I can do it. I nodded. ("I''ll trust you. Let''s go back down there and make it through.") *** The stairs felt far more oppressive on the second way down. There was tension in knowing what we were going to face this time and that it wouldn''t be as easy as some goblins hiding around corners to ambush us. This would be another stealth mission. Just like when we hunted down the goblins one by one we would be sneaking up on these undead monsters and silencing them before they could call for others. I was the first one down again, with my senses I would be able to tell if they were still near the entrance. The scent of pine needles filled my nose, the pleasant smell was corrupted by these horror movie monsters. I crouched low, closed my eyes, and took in the sounds as I sniffed the ground for scents. There were dozens here not long ago, the smells were intermingling so it was difficult to get an accurate read on how many of them there were but I could tell it was a lot. Focusing on my ears I listened to the quiet atmosphere. With no birds or insects in the forest, I would be able to hear any that were around. No. They were gone for now. ("They''re not here. It''s safe to come down,") I told Luna through the rings. We were stretching the distance the rings operated at but it didn''t take long to get a response. It sounded faint as if it were far away. ("We''re coming.") I watched the area with my ears perked. When the rest of them get here I''ll be keeping my eyes closed for most of this trial and focusing only on the sound. My hearing was even better than Luna''s who had much better hearing than the average human. I''ll do my best to give directions and track the proximity of the monsters as we make our way out of these woods. We don''t need to find the next floor necessarily, just to the edge of the area these things claim as their territory. Most monsters operate like this, so I''ve been told. The others met me at the base of the stairs and quietly formed their positions around me. I had one of my clawed hands on Maxwell''s shoulder and the other on Luna''s. Piper would need to be free because she''s not able to tank a hit as well as Maxwell. I took a breath and closed my eyes. I would be doing much of this floor blind. We progressed slowly, Maxwell stopping to reinforce his markings and carving new ones into the trees that we passed. I could hear them, the monsters of the forest, and I guided us away from them as we went along. Eventually, there was one that was in the way. It was blocking the deer trail that we had found. ("One ahead, it''s standing still but I hear it. I''m not sure what kind it is,") I told Luna. She tapped Maxwell on the side and was probably making gestures as we''d discussed. They didn''t have anything as sophisticated as sign language but operating with a mute party member made them come to the obvious conclusion of using hand signs. Unfortunately, it wasn''t very developed and they were only able to communicate very basic things to each other this way, enough for our purposes now though. Maxwell tapped my hand on his shoulder, signaling that he would be headed up alone. I released him and kept listening for more of the monsters in the area. So far I didn''t hear anything other than Maxwell''s soft footsteps through the thick grass as he approached the creature. All I was able to hear when the two of them finally met was the dull thud of the monster falling to the ground. He had done it, taken the monster down without alerting the horde. He made his way back and I gently took his shoulder once again and he led us forward. I pulled his shoulder away from any monsters I heard and relayed specific directions to Luna when appropriate. Like this, we made our way to the edge of the forest that surrounded the stairs up. ("Helena, open your eyes for a minute and take a look,") Luna told me. I opened them up and saw that we were in the open outside of the forest now. The fog had lightened up but it was still present. I would probably be able to get away with keeping them open without blinding everyone here but only barely. I let out a breath and let some of my anxiety go with it. In front of us were hills. From here we could see the occasional foggy shape off in the distance but whatever monsters lurked out there weren''t the same ones as in the thicker forest. We couldn''t be sure these new ones wouldn''t all come running like the others had but at least we shouldn''t need to worry about the monsters from the forest scrambling after us too. ("Maxwell says you can keep your eyes open for now, it''s not as bad out here.") I nodded and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. I moved forward so I was near the front of our group again, with the thinner fog it shouldn''t be too much of a problem even if there was still some glare. Maxwell rolled his shoulder and said something to me with a smile before leading us forward through the fog. This was only the start of the new floor of the dungeon. Chapter 17

<~> Chapter 17 The fog was thin enough now that I was able to scout ahead. If anything, doing this was better because my friends could still see me and I wasn''t blocking their vision with glare. The monster in front of me looked somewhat like a bear, though it was a lot smaller than a typical bear would be. At first, I was worried it was a bear cub or something similar but all of the monsters that look like this seem to be this size, larger than me but only by a bit. It walked on all fours with a lumbering heavy gait, it had a large head for its size with big yellowed fangs. Its face looked gnarled and strange, almost as twisted as a witch''s face is to a person''s. Its black beady eyes scanned around looking for something, the thing was more focused on its quarry than the hunter stalking it. I was crouched near the top of a hill as the monster trudged between them. I took in the scents around me. The thing smelled more like an animal than the things we found in the forest. There was still this tinge of... wrongness to it though. I don''t know how to describe it but it didn''t smell like a normal animal. It struck me as weird considering we still hadn''t come across any actual wildlife on this floor but that''s what my instincts told me. From this angle my bright white eyes didn''t look out of place to the thing, the glow just blended in with the obscured sun behind the fog above us. ("Can I try and fight it on my own?") I asked. After some time that I assumed was filled with the three of them pantomiming messages to each other, Luna finally replied, ("You can try, we''ll rush to your aid if you need help. Just be careful...") Her heartfelt plea made me smile to myself. It was hard to deny that I was growing attached to her, it felt like she really cared for me. In a different... frankly less professional way than the other two. Maybe it just came down to being able to freely communicate with each other, something we both were reliant on each other for. I think there''s more to it though... I hope there is. I shook those distracting thoughts from my head and refocused on my prey. I stalked forward, making a point to keep the sun near my back without giving away my scent. My fur was a smoky black but it was my eyes that I was most worried about giving me away. I felt lucky that the direction coincided with the direction of the wind, the bear-thing was upwind of me. I could smell it quite clearly but I didn''t think the opposite was true. It didn''t act like it could sense me. I got as close as I thought I could without alerting the bear-like creature to my presence. I relied on pure instinct to know where the line was, where I couldn''t get any closer to it. I coiled myself like a spring, ready to pounce on the beast. For an agonizing moment I waited to strike and then... it paused. With a leap, I bounded at it from behind and felt my sharp claws sink into its thick fur. I tried to get a hold of it before snapping at it with my teeth but it twisted in my grasp and threw me away before I could. The roll I made in the air felt graceful as I managed to land on my feet, barely. It was fortunate that I had, because the monster was nearly on top of me with a swipe of its large clawed paws. Five lines of pain bloomed over my shoulder and upper arm. The slashes were superficial and the pain was easy enough to ignore. I darted to the beast''s side and slashed through its unprotected flank. My experience with the goblin king made me remember not to lose sight of the thing as I spun around, I kept all of my focus on it, not wanting to let it hit me with some kind of sneak attack. A loud roar spilled from the mouth of the bear monster and it spun around to face me again. It jumped at me with uncontained rage but its attack wasn''t clever or subtle and it was almost clumsy compared to me. I darted to its other side and slashed it again, careful to not lose sight of it as it twisted and impotently slashed at me as I passed. I felt confident I could win this altercation and that might have been why I let my guard down. The fucker feinted me. I hadn''t expected this level of intelligence from the beast, it roared again as if it had been consumed in anger, and just as I was about to take advantage of another wild pounce it shifted and grabbed at me instead. While I hadn''t been expecting this, that didn''t mean my reflexes were poor enough to do nothing about it. I managed to catch the bear creature''s claws with my own, forcing me to switch from hit-and-run tactics to a straight wrestling match. I did get the unfortunate irony of being in a wrestling match with a bear. My muscles tensed as I held the bear''s paws with my own. The thing was strong but I was able to make it up in leverage. Training for a triathlon gave me a much better sense of proprioception than when I was a fat girl forcing myself to go on jogs. I shifted my stance to give myself a lower center of gravity. I twisted and pulled my arms to force the monster''s into an awkward position. Despite the disadvantage I was in, I was winning. It roared at me again, I could see the frustration in its eyes as it struggled to win a direct test of strength. I could tell by its reactions that this wasn''t something it experienced regularly because it didn''t know what to do, it just futilely tried to push harder. In its frustration, it tried to roar at me again and the moment it did I twisted my head to the side and bit down on its neck. That got a reaction. The bear monster thrashed in surprise and its struggles were enough to throw me off and away from it. I rolled on the ground much less gracefully this time but I got back to my feet before the bear-monster could take advantage of me. It was much more wary of me now, it didn''t understand why I wasn''t going down as easy as the other things it fought but it knew enough to recognize I was a threat to it. Normally being wary of me might be the right call but the blood of an umber hound pumped through my veins. I was much more comfortable hunting a monster that knew I was its predator. My instincts really kicked in now, its shift of demeanor strengthened me rather than made things more difficult. I, or rather my instincts, weren''t used to fighting on even footing. They were however very used to being on the offensive. The bear stepped back and I took advantage. I moved into its space and raked my claws deep into its shoulder and bounced out of its space before it could retaliate. It tried to shift its position to block with the less vulnerable parts of its body but I just took advantage of that and sunk my claws in deep, creating deep open wounds to slowly bleed it out. Now when it tried to attack me head-on, there was more hesitancy in its actions and I took advantage of that too. The monster''s movements became haggard and sluggish as it lost its resistance. Finally, I got behind it, and with a twisting pull, I broke its neck. I fell back on my ass after the large limp body fell to the ground and became motionless. The thing''s hide wasn''t too torn up, there were gashes in its hide where I stabbed deep holes into it, but for the most part, the thing was in one piece. I turned and looked up at my friends on the hill, they had been watching for a while, I had smelled them, but they had just been watching and letting me test my strength on my own. I raised a clawed hand up at them and gave them a toothy grin. My sign must have been reassuring to them because they carefully came down the hill and approached me. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ("Helena, are you okay?") Luna asked. I nodded. ("Tired, but I got ''em.") She came up to me and traced her fingers through the fur on my shoulder. The open wounds where the bear-creature had slashed me were gone, not even scabs had been left behind. That had been early in the fight, I was surprised she had seen that. She smiled. ("Looks like you came out of the fight okay. You''re stronger than you look, I was surprised when you started grappling each other.") I was feeling a little mischievous so I leaned forward and gave her a wet dog kiss with my long tongue. Her tail poofed out to twice its size and she looked disgusted. ("What was that for?") she groaned out. I shrugged. ("I wanted to give you a kiss.") I only realized after I said the words the implication they gave. I turned and saw her bright red like a cherry tomato, embarrassedly wiping the drool from her face with her sleeve. She wasn''t even able to reply because my embarrassment made her embarrassed too. Clearing my throat I stood up and walked to the corpse that Maxwell was looking over. I poked at the body with a claw and spoke one of the very few words I''d managed to pick up, "Good?" He turned to me with raised eyebrows, it appeared as if I''d caught him off guard. "...Good," he said with a nod. He turned to Luna and started saying something to her out loud. She smiled as her tail lazily swung back and forth behind her. ("He''s surprised you''re picking up our language so quickly. He wanted me to tell you that you did a good job, there''s some damage here and there but much less than would have been done with a sword. He doesn''t know if the pelt will be valuable but if it is, then it''s in great condition. Do you want anything from the body?") I hesitated. I was conflicted about asking but I knew it was what my new body wanted. ("I want its meat...") I flinched a bit when Luna gently put her hand on my shoulder. ("It''s okay Helena, the three of us won''t judge you for eating your kills. Sharing the pelt with us is more than enough. We don''t know... what exactly you are now or what you''re becoming but as long as you stay sane we won''t judge you for your more... grisly habits. I trust you. Uh, I mean we trust you.") I put my clawed hand over hers on my shoulder. Her words were more of a relief than I expected. I was worried, not just over their opinions of me... but also because I could tell I was changing. They had noticed and were okay with it... for now. I just hoped I would continue to feel mostly human. Luna walked over to Maxwell and relayed my desire through some more pantomiming. It wasn''t a very efficient way to communicate though it seems they have done this often enough to relay a lot of the meaning to him. He asked a question and she confirmed it with a nod. At the top of one of the nearby hills, I kept watch of the surrounding area as Maxwell bled out the monster and started skinning the thing for its pelt. I could smell the meat. I was able to wait though, my instincts told me that sometimes protecting my kill for a while would be necessary, my human side said I could wait until he finished carefully removing the pelt. So, my warring sides agreed with each other and I watched and waited as I began to salivate to the smell of blood. It was these moments I felt the most different, the least recognizable to the old me and so, despite the danger of the dungeon, I shifted back into my human form to watch and wait. Even in this form, the thing closest to my normal, I still felt like a different person. I was stronger, more agile, I could hear better, see better, smell better. But being in this form made me feel... somewhat normal for a minute. The raw need to rip the carcass apart to feed on it had abated... just a little. I glanced over at the people who had quickly become my friends in this strange place. Piper was chatting with Maxwell as he worked and Luna was watching the other direction. I turned back around and scanned the horizon again. "Helena!" I turned to see that Maxwell had called my name. Encouraged by my attempts at speaking their language, Maxwell had asked once again for my name earlier. It sounded strange from his lips but I couldn''t help but smile. This was progress. He pointed out the small pile of meat. My mouth watered and eyes dilated. He was finished and I could feast. I tore into the skinned bear. The meat was rich, a unique flavor compared to the other things I''ve eaten. I tore off large chunks and swallowed them down. The wait had been worth it, instead of trying to peel the skin and hide away or eating through it directly, I could focus on ripping the meat from the bones or in some cases crunch down on the bones themselves. I spent probably around twenty minutes finishing off the meat while Maxwell continued preparing the hide. Then I found it. The heart. I was still not sure why my instincts screamed at me every time I came across one but I couldn''t resist, despite being near full my mouth again salivated as I bit into the tough muscle. I again entered that fugue state as I feasted on it, the taste of iron invigorated me and made me shiver. I felt a bit woozy by the time I finished but I didn''t have any noticeable adverse reactions this time. I licked my chops and closed my eyes as digested my meal. I could tell I was changing, I just wish I knew how far these changes would go. Chapter 18

<~> Chapter 18 The fight with the bear-like thing was a bit of a limit test for me. As much as I had satisfaction in knowing I could take the thing down on my own, it was even more important that I could work in a group. The fight with the goblin made it plain that I didn''t know how to work that well in a group and so we would try rectifying that. There were more of these bear monsters in the hills so we had plenty of opportunities to practice working as a group. They were more threatening to us than the goblins had been but less so than the goblin king we had fought. It was a good middle ground, no one was at too much risk but all of us were challenged by it. The thing that continued to be a bigger problem on this floor was the glare from my eyes but there wasn''t much I could do about it. I couldn''t fight with my eyes closed, as good as my new senses were, I still relied on my sight a lot. We were on a hill overlooking one of the bear creatures. The other benefit of hunting these things was that Maxwell thought these pelts would be valuable. He didn''t quite know what these things were called but the toughness of the hide and the innate magic in them would be good for certain kinds of armor according to him. It didn''t matter much to me at this stage, I had no real reference on how much money we would be making for all of this. My real concern was gaining enough personal strength so that I could protect myself if other people were less friendly than this band of hunters were. But in the end, my best prospect was to follow their lead either way. ("Okay Helena, I''ll open with fire magic. Let Maxwell engage it before you enter the fight. Once the monster''s attention is on him, you can try and get some slashes in it from behind, just be careful not to draw too much of its attention. If it starts to target you, retreat and let Maxwell get some hits in to regain its attention,") Luna told me. I nodded. After an earlier discussion, they went back to thinking I should operate like a rogue. Even though I''m durable enough to take a ton of hits, I didn''t have the training or skill to hold a monster''s attention and keep the others safe yet. Also, the idea of biding my time and taking advantage of when the monsters were vulnerable appealed to both my human sensibilities and my more monstrous instincts. This was the fourth of these we had hunted as a group and each time we had tried a few different things and gotten better at working together. ("Should I try not to pierce the fur?") I asked. ("If you can avoid it, that would be for the best but don''t take any unnecessary risks just to preserve the value of some fur.") I nodded again. ("Okay, I''m ready.") A burst of fire exploded next to the unsuspecting monster and forced it to the ground. The monster looked disoriented and struggled to its feet. Maxwell was ready and took the fight right to it. He had switched weapons to a mace as a way to avoid damaging the fur but most of his time would be spent holding the monster''s attention with his big tower shield. Piper was formed up near him, her job was to keep him healthy in case he took too hard of a blow and to draw away a little bit of its attention if he lost his footing. Luna stood a small distance away from the fight, she was using her fire magic conservatively to keep the beast off balance rather than trying to hurt it. Fire magic had a tendency to singe fur so her abilities were limited if she wanted to help preserve the pelt. I closed in on the creature, I would show my presence to it to keep it off balance but I was only going to step in when I saw a good opening. There! I pounced forward and kicked the beast''s knee. With a loud snap, I broke the monster''s leg. I jumped back as the monster roared in pain and turned to chase me. Maxwell took advantage of the beast''s lapse in judgment and slammed his mace into its shoulder to knock it off balance. With its broken leg, it fell to its side and gave me another opening. I dashed forward again and punched its spine. Another loud crack and the bear-thing''s rear legs stopped moving entirely. I shook out my hand, I was tough but directly punching bone still hurt. Probably not as much as it should but still plenty enough for me to think twice about attacking that way. With a flourish, Piper finished the monster off by slicing its neck open with her sword. ("Helena, quick! Pick up the beast so its blood doesn''t drain onto the fur!") Luna half-yelled through the rings. I picked the monster up and lifted it from its torso. The dead weight was awkward to lift but it wasn''t nearly as heavy as I thought it would be. Piper adjusted its head so the slice in its neck was parallel with the ground as the monster''s blood poured out of it. Maxwell said something to the other women and started pulling out his tools. Luna turned to translate for me. ("Maxwell says he was really happy with how well we worked together that time. Since this fight worked out so well, he says we should start heading back up. He''s running low on bag space with the number of pelts he''s collected and doesn''t feel confident exploring any deeper on this floor with so little information on it.") I hesitated but nodded. ("Okay. Does this mean we''ll be making our way back to the city?") Luna placed her hand on my shoulder. ("Don''t worry, you don''t have anything to fear. Maxwell will be able to speak for us, the hunter''s association deals with many odd things, perhaps they will know what''s happening to you or how you got down here.") I shifted back down to my human form and placed my hand on top of hers. Her hand felt so soft against mine and I gave it a gentle squeeze. I was growing more comfortable around her, more so than the other two. I acknowledged that might just be because she was the only one I could speak to but I kind of hoped that it was something else. I felt chemistry between us but I''ve had so many crushes go bad before that I couldn''t be sure if she felt that way back. I thought she did but I couldn''t be sure. Who would want a freak like me anyway? "Helena." I turned to see that Piper was trying to get my attention. In a lot of our downtime, Piper was trying to teach me new words. Once she became confident I was actually picking things up she had taken a more active role in trying to teach me their language using the book we had found in the chest from the lake. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "Sword," she said indicating her weapon. "Shield," she said pointing to Maxwell''s shield. "Sword... shield," I repeated in their language pointing to the respective items. She was satisfied and started reviewing some of the other words she taught me. The teaching was simple stuff, I couldn''t understand full sentences yet but I was getting closer to being able to communicate with them. The pronunciation wasn''t difficult, the sounds were familiar to me even if the actual words were different. It seemed odd that their names were so... normal by comparison, but it did make them easier to remember so I wasn''t going to complain. I didn''t often talk with Piper through the rings, her mana was valuable so I mainly spoke with Luna but... I really wanted to know this word. ("Piper, how do I say friends?") She looked startled, maybe she forgot that I actually could speak and wasn''t just their new pet dog. The thought amused me a bit. Piper smiled. "Friend... Friends." I nodded, I was starting to understand the difference between singular and plural in their language. It was hard but I was starting to get used to it. "Friend. Friends" I repeated. She pulled me over to Luna, placed a hand on her shoulder, and said something in her language. I wasn''t quite sure what she was saying from the context. I understood enough to recognize Luna''s name by now but that was it. I just repeated what she said. Luna''s face went from shocked to bright red and she hurried away from us as Piper suddenly began to laugh hysterically. I was confused at their reactions as I looked back and forth between the two of them. I wasn''t sure what I said but it seemed to be some kind of mean-spirited joke so I followed after Luna to see what happened. ("Luna? Are you okay? What did Piper make me say? Did I say something bad?") Watching me follow after her only made Piper laugh more and I suddenly felt a little bit betrayed by the whole thing. Eventually she stopped and crouched down by a tree, holding her face in her hands. I was concerned so I didn''t want to get too close, in case she was mad or something. ("Luna? Are you okay?") I asked quietly. She turned to look at me, her face was still quite red but she didn''t look mad, she looked... embarrassed. ("Piper told you a phrase that implied we were... lovers.") My eyebrows rose and suddenly I felt the blood rush to my face. I quickly looked away, unable to keep her gaze with the sudden revelation. I coughed. ("Er, right. I could see why that might be embarrassing. I''m sorry...") Before she could say anything I walked away and shot a glare at Piper, though I regretted it when it only made her laugh even more. Why would she tease me like that? Does she know I''m into women? Ugh, I can''t believe she would tease me like that, so mean. "Lovers," I repeated quietly to myself. Since the atmosphere had gotten so awkward I decided to go see how Maxwell was doing. As I walked up he squinted before turning around and looking at me. Ah, I think my eyes are making it harder to work. "I .... .... .... .... pelt. I .... .... .... more .... .... clean," he said pointing at the pelt. I was starting to be able to pick out words but there was still a lot I was missing. I felt kinda proud that I got the gist of it though, he was almost done, he just had a little more cleaning to finish. I nodded and smiled. Unfortunately, I wouldn''t be able to watch him work much on this floor. Even though the glare didn''t bother me, I could tell it did bother the rest of them. I turned and headed to the top of one of the nearby hills and shifted back to my wolf form. I perked my ears and looked around for threats. There wasn''t much in the area anymore, we had killed all of the bear-like monsters we could find. Since we weren''t planning on going any deeper that meant we would need to head back through the area with the undead animal monsters soon. I took in all of the scents around me and listened for anything out of place. It was quiet and I didn''t smell any other monsters nearby. All I could smell was our group and the trail we had come from. The musky monster smells were gone other than the remnants of the ones we had killed. I hadn''t eaten any since the second one, I was still full and satiated from those first kills and I always felt... awkward eating in front of the others. With a sigh, I stood up tall and stretched. Even in the sun, my smoky fur was pitch black. With every change I felt both more and less comfortable with what I was becoming. I barely felt human sometimes but the strength I was gaining felt good. It was addictive. I felt strong and powerful, on top of the food chain. But the instincts were starting to feel natural, it was becoming harder to tell apart my own desires from the ones that my new instincts pointed me to. The only way I could reliably tell anymore was when they were for something I never did as a human, like stalk prey. Then there was Luna. I couldn''t ignore the fact that I was pining after her anymore but I was so dense I couldn''t tell if she liked me back. I got the impression she did with her playful teasing and reassuring touches. She always seemed to get embarrassed and withdraw from me though so I couldn''t tell if I was just seeing things as I would like them to be or if she really was interested in me like that. I held out hope though. I couldn''t tell what the others thought. Maxwell seemed a bit aloof but had moments where he treated me as a part of the group. Piper was warming up to me but then there was that prank. Did she do that because she approved and was trying to push us in the right direction? Or did she do it to tease Luna? Or maybe she was teasing me? I crossed my arms and looked over the horizon. Everything is so complicated right now, I''m risking my life fighting monsters that look like they come from a horror movie. Why do my stupid hormones say now is a good time to get the biggest crush I''ve had in years? Chapter 19

<~> Chapter 19 We made our way back through the foggy forest filled with the animated dead. Like last time my eyes were closed and I was using my ears to alert my friends to their presence so we could avoid them or deal with them as necessary. I was starting to get better at navigating by my hearing alone but it still required me to hold onto Maxwell''s shoulder to give him directions through the woods. Any lingering awkwardness between Luna and me faded as we got back into a professional rhythm. The trek past the monsters was quick and we made it back to the arch that contained the stairs up. Now that we were out of the fog I was able to see again without causing everyone to be blinded by the glare that my eyes caused on that floor. Despite the enemies being more of a challenge to me, I hated that floor so I was glad to leave it. We walked through the still deserted goblin territory and back through the tunnels to the lake. I had eaten my fill of the large bear-like monsters so I didn''t feel the need to take a detour here to eat more of those frost salamanders, though the thought did cross my mind. We circled around to the opposite side of the lake, the side I hadn''t been on before. There was an opening to another cave system that I hadn''t explored but apparently led to the stairs up to a higher floor of the dungeon. The way they spoke of this place, it seemed as if each level of the dungeon was another layer stacked on top of each other that dug endlessly into the ground. Each floor was different from the one above and the one below, though some floors had areas that resembled each other at times. The next floor up was one of the more common types. These three had been down in the dungeon long enough now that any marks they had been using to keep track of their path had completely faded into the healing stone. Apparently, those dungeon tunnelers that I had eaten before sometimes rearranged the paths as well, making the maze even more confusing to navigate. We would have to find our way to the stairs up fresh, without any help other than a general direction they knew the stairs were in. Not that directions were easy to keep track of in a maze of mostly featureless stone. They didn''t seem too worried though so I didn''t worry either. They had known they would have to come back this way and didn''t bother to refresh their marks, they were confident it wouldn''t take too long to find the stairs. We spent about half the day searching through the tunnels until one of us happened upon the stairs. Piper was the lucky one to find it this time and was able to just barely relay a message to Luna through the rings despite the distance. Luna relayed the message back to us and we were able to find our way to the stairs and meet up at the base of them. "We .... .... camp here .... .... night, .... .... .... .... dangerous .... .... this floor," Maxwell said to the group. I was starting to pick up more words now, though the unfamiliar ones could make the sentences confusing. I could gather he wasn''t saying this floor was dangerous but maybe the next one was? Either way, I saw the others start preparing the tents so I started helping set up as well. Unlike before this ground was too hard to stake the tents so they instead just hung the tarps from frames we put together. My taller wolf form made this pretty easy. There would be less privacy than there was at the lake but there was only one entrance to watch for monsters from. Aside from the stairs of course. I was a bit concerned about sleeping right next to another floor of the dungeon though. ("Luna, do we have to worry about monsters coming down the stairs from here?") I asked. She turned to me and smiled. ("No, for some reason the monsters usually stay to their floor and will only chase up and down them if pursuing someone. They don''t normally wander between floors on their own except for some very specific types like mimics and ghosts.") I raised an eyebrow. ("Ghosts?") Luna tilted her head in confusion at my reaction. ("Uhm, they''re a kind of incorporeal monster that can walk through walls. They can''t normally be hurt by physical attacks, you have to use some kind of magic. You''ve never heard of them?") ("I... have but they are superstitions where I come from. They''re like the spirits of the dead or whatever, I''ve seen some weird stuff since I''ve been down here but everything we''ve fought has still been... I don''t know, real things to me.") Except for maybe the zombie animals. She tapped her chin. ("Odd, I''ve never heard of ghosts being ''spirits'' before. They''re just monsters that are somewhat tricky to deal with. You seem to be describing some kind of undead monster, not ghosts. Maybe something similar to a shade?") Ghosts aren''t spirits of the dead here? Or was something wrong with how the rings were translating things? I suppose I''ll judge for myself if we encounter them. ("What floor are the ghosts on?") I asked. ("Oh, I don''t think there are any ghosts in this dungeon, at least to my knowledge, and almost certainly not on the way back up. Ghosts were something we had to commonly deal with in Ironcastle''s dungeon. It was part of the reason we decided to come to Fallow. Maxwell isn''t able to deal with ghosts at all, there were several floors that would exhaust mine and Piper''s mana pools every time we went through them because we had to do all the heavy lifting on those floors. When we heard about Fallow''s dungeon we decided to travel here and give this dungeon a shot. We''ve been more successful here but my debt costs are more since we have to send the money back to Ironcastle.") The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I frowned at the mention of her debt again. It was something I was curious about but she got all gloomy the last time I had asked about it. ("So about this debt¡ª") Suddenly Luna stood up. ("I should probably finish getting ready, I want to get some rest before the next floor while I can. Piper can take first watch with you.") Luna quickly walked over to Piper and pointed her in my direction, probably sending her a message through the rings. I sighed and scratched my pointy dog ear before realizing what I was doing and shifting back to my human form. I''ve been spending more and more time in my shifted form now, only occasionally shifting back to my human one. Part of me wanted to say that it was because I was being vigilant for danger but I think the real reason was because I was starting to like it. My thoughts combined with the uneasiness of Luna''s reaction and I was feeling a bit on guard when Piper decided to come over. Piper came and sat on the ground next to me. "You okay?" she asked in her language. I shrugged. I wasn''t sure how to respond. I didn''t have the words for what the problem was and I wasn''t even sure it was appropriate to ask. Luna kept avoiding talking about it so I wasn''t sure if this was like a secret or something. If it was, she wasn''t very good at hiding things. She''s brought up her debt a few times now. Piper looked back at Luna who was crawling under one of the makeshift tents before curling up under one of the blankets. Her poofy tail stuck out on one side. When she looked back at me she started playing with the ring on her finger. ("It''s about the rings isn''t it?") Piper asked me. I raised my eyebrows, a bit surprised to see her use them. I hesitated but nodded. She sighed as a look of bitterness crossed her face. The moment was so fleeting I was almost unsure if I had actually seen it. ("Because I fucked up and wasn''t able to heal her throat properly she isn''t able to speak without it being painful. In order for us to make a living as hunters we need these rings to speak to each other.") She held out the simple metal band on her finger and looked down at it with a frown. ("These rings were expensive though and the only enchanter that was willing to sell them to us on credit charged us a huge markup for it. Luna tried to talk us out of it but Maxwell and I agreed that this was important and took the deal anyway. Now something like four-fifths of all the money we make down here goes to paying off that bill. It costs even more to send the money back to Ironcastle but we weren''t making enough money back there to keep up with our payments, we had to come here. We''re running a dangerous game now, if we don''t make enough Maxwell and I will become debt slaves, we didn''t let Luna sign onto the contract... it''s my fault she''s like this... I couldn''t let that happen to her because of me. If we miss three payments or default on the loan we''ll have to pay off our debt as slaves to the enchanter back in Ironcastle. That would take about ten years, give or take. Not something I''m looking forward to.") She turned and looked me in the eye. ("That''s why we''re doing our best to make as much money as possible and why we took the risk of inviting you to join us. We''re desperate and you''re already helping us out a lot. Even if we weren''t making a lot more money since you joined, Luna looks a lot happier now that she has someone to talk to. Seeing her like that... it makes all of this feel more worth it.") She sighed and looked away. ("I''m running low on mana, just... thanks. There aren''t many things that wreck her mood like the debt thing so I figured that''s what happened. I''ll get Max to keep watch with you, I''m going to need to switch with my brother to recover some mana after this chat.") I nodded and put my hand on her shoulder. "Thank you." She smiled and patted my back a few times before standing up. She said something else to me but whatever it was, it didn''t have enough words that I could recognize to make heads or tails of what she said. I ran my fingers through my hair and looked toward the tunnel I was supposed to be watching as she walked away. All of that was... heavier than I was expecting. Debt slaves? That''s pretty bleak. I wonder how long the three of them have been dealing with this... Since Luna''s father died? That''s when she told me she had gone to that Ironcastle place. I suppose this doesn''t change much for me. I still need them to help me out and now I know that they kind of need me just as much as I need them. It was reassuring, even if the reason was kind of sad. I pictured those painful-looking scars that covered Luna''s throat. I wonder how all of that happened. Piper said she hadn''t healed her throat properly and they got the rings in Ironcastle. That meant she''s probably been like this for a long time. Did she get hurt by a monster or was it something else? Maxwell plopped down next to me. He didn''t say anything and just watched the opening of the cave alongside me. He just sat there quietly for a long time, so I kept thinking about things, replaying the two conversations in my head from earlier. After a while, I couldn''t take the circles my mind was walking through so I shook the feeling off and tried to think about other stuff. I glanced at Maxwell next to me when he let out a big yawn. He looked pretty handsome for a guy, but he obviously wasn''t my type. He was Piper''s brother and if he did have anything going on with Luna I hadn''t seen any indication of it. The two of them haven''t flirted or kissed or anything, they don''t even share the same tent. From what I can tell Luna seems more interested in me at the moment. My face heated up at the thought. Unless I''m imagining it? It could just be because she''s excited to have someone to talk to regularly with the rings. Some girls can give off fake signals sometimes... that''s happened to me before... With a sigh, I refocused on the opening in front of me again. No matter where I turned intrusive thoughts about all of this stuff kept coming back. It was going to be a long night. Chapter 20

<~> Chapter 20 Our group was slowly advancing up the stairs, trying to pace ourselves so that we weren''t tired once we reached the top. ("What is the next floor up like? What kinds of monsters?") I asked Luna. We were in a similar formation as before, Maxwell up front, me second, Piper and Luna trailing a little behind us. It was a little cramped on the stairway in my wolf form but I felt safer like this, I also physically blocked anything from getting to Piper and Luna which may be a plus, depending on the situation we were headed for. ("The next floor looks a lot less natural than this one. It''s a maze of corridors made from blue-tinted stone. You can still mark them but they heal a lot faster than the stone walls did on the lower floor, it seems to be more effective to mark the ground instead. There are also more traps on this floor than others. We had a scout with us on the way down here that guided us past a lot of the traps so we''ll have to take things a lot slower on the way back up. Not unless you have some experience?") she asked hopefully. ("No, sorry,") I replied. All I could picture were spike traps and giant rolling boulders, I''m not sure any of my ''experience'' on the subject would be helpful. ("A shame, not unexpected though. As for monsters, mostly slimes and these large bat monsters. I''m not sure I would recommend... eating these ones but you''d be a better judge of that I suppose, maybe if you could grab them out of the air. These monsters aren''t usually sanitary enough for us to eat and the only part of them that''s worth anything is their wings. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to fight them without damaging those, and the area they''re found in is usually covered in guano so it can be difficult to collect them before they roll in it...") My snout wrinkled up in disgust at the thought. ("The meat is considered edible for us but I think I can safely guess that all of us would prefer to stick with our rations. Nothing I''ve seen you eat is something we would usually think is edible though so it''s up to you. Maybe those monsters Maxwell skinned might be edible but we don''t know what those even were.") We crested the top of the stairs and Maxwell and I fanned out into the room. After a quick check, nothing seemed to be dangerous at the top so the other two followed us up. The room was simple, just four even walls with one ratty-looking wooden door with rusted bands across it. The stone was indeed a dark blue and the bricks looked mostly evenly placed and regular. Enough that they didn''t look artificial but not enough to look cobbled together either. The ceiling was a bit taller than I had feared and allowed me to stand up comfortably in my wolf form, though I could nearly touch the ceiling if I reached for it. ".... .... dangerous .... .... .... floor .... .... .... .... monsters .... .... dangerous .... Helena .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... she .... .... want .... eat .... ....?" Maxwell asked Luna. I squinted, hoping to pick out any words I could recognize but a lot of them weren''t ones that I had heard before. Luna shrugged back at him and his mouth drew into a sideways frown at the response. ("What did he ask?") I said to her through the rings. ("He warned us of traps, told me that you might need an explanation for the slimes, and asked if you wanted to eat the bats,") she quickly replied. ("Do I need an explanation on the slimes?") I asked. ("Uh, I often forget that none of this is familiar to you. Slimes are very common monsters, they have these little mana stones inside of them that hold them together. If you want to kill a slime the easiest way to do that with a weapon is by attacking that mana stone. These ones are acidic though, so it might not be easy for you to deal with them using just your claws.") I hummed. I glanced at the sword on Maxwell''s belt. Luna must have seen me because she added to her last statement. ("Swords are more useful at piercing the slime''s outer layer. Maxwell does carry a spare mace but it''s not very effective on slimes.") I sighed. ("So what should I do? Hold them for Maxwell to pierce?") ("That might be the best way to go, yes. You could try and see how your regeneration holds up to it but I would be cautious. Acid burns can be painful even if you can regenerate.") My greatest foe... slimes... Once Maxwell felt comfortable that Luna had properly explained things to me he prepared to open the door. This time his large shield was on his back, I guess it wasn''t necessary for this floor. The idea seemed odd to me since the slimes they were describing seemed fairly dangerous but I didn''t know his fighting style. He cracked the door open slowly and quickly glanced through the crack before ducking back behind it. When nothing seemed to have happened he opened the door the rest of the way. ("Doors are often trapped on this floor and Maxwell has always had a hard time spotting traps,") Luna told me. ("Should I go first?...") I didn''t like the idea but maybe with my regeneration it would be okay... Luna pursed her lips ("I''m not sure. You don''t know what to look for but Maxwell has always been bad with them. If you did trigger one, most probably wouldn''t kill you... Let me ask Maxwell, give me a moment.") If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Maxwell stopped and turned to Luna while she spoke to him through the rings. He looked at her skeptically and said something before giving me a concerned look. ("He says he doesn''t mind you taking on the danger but wants to know if you''re sure.") I had a bit of a lump in my stomach but I nodded anyway. He gave a half-hearted smile and gestured me to head forward before quickly filling Piper in. ("Helena, be careful,") Luna whispered to me. I took a deep breath, headed into the corridor, and immediately triggered a trap. A wire as thin as fishing line was pulled forward by my foot and three wooden spikes burst through the, until then, invisible cracks in the stone. One of the spikes pierced my left lung which caused me to cough blood onto the floor in front of me. My body was tough enough that it stopped the spikes from going too deep but the impact pushed me against the other wall and stunned me. Maxwell yelled something that I was sure was some kind of swear as I reached over and tried to pull the spikes out of me. The wood felt soft as my claws snapped the poles off where they met the wall and I tossed them to my feet one by one. I was wheezing and grasped at the wall for support while I felt the wounds in my side burn as they healed. After a few moments, I was forced to cough out more blood but once I had, I was able to take a nice deep steadying breath. I turned to look down at the holes in my sides as the blood slowed to a stop before hardening to scabs. Only a moment later, they had fallen out and new smoky fur had taken their place. I suddenly felt a pang of hunger but I didn''t think I was bad enough for it to be a problem yet. ("Helena, are you doing okay?") Luna hesitantly asked. I calmly turned to look back at her. ("I''m... a little hungry now...") I could see the relief in her eyes as she sighed, Piper caught on to this and said something to Maxwell but I didn''t pay attention to that. Instead, I trailed my fingers through my fur where there had been a big hole a second ago. This was the first time I actually got to see myself healing this fast. The last time I had been nearly cut in half I basically blacked out... things got fuzzy and confusing and I couldn''t remember it well. This time, while it did hurt really fucking bad, I was able to manage. The worst part was coughing up blood, not the stab wounds or the regeneration. ("Maxwell wants to know if you still want to go in front...") Luna told me. I looked up and nodded once at Maxwell before turning to Luna. ("I''m sorry for scaring you. I''ll try to be more careful from now on.") Proceeding forward I led our small group through the hallway. This time I paid special attention to the floor and ceiling, looking for any signs of traps. Right after a fork that bent to the left, I triggered another one. This time I was more ready to react to the trap and managed to jump back just as the floor gave out under where I had been standing. With this path cut off I led the group down the other fork. ("Didn''t you come through here earlier? Does none of this look familiar to the three of you?") I asked Luna. ("This floor changes about once a day so maps aren''t very useful. There are a few bends in this maze and while you can still get turned around, it''s pretty straightforward to navigate as far as dungeon floors go,") she replied. As we continued I smelled them before I heard them. Little squeaks and calls echoed against the stone walls as the strong stench of guano filled my nose. Oddly I could recognize that it smelled bad but the smell itself didn''t really bother me. ("I can hear and smell those bats up ahead,") I told Luna. ("How many?") I shook my head. ("I can''t tell, more than one.") ("Give me a moment.") I stopped and turned to look behind me where Luna was trying to communicate what I had heard with Piper. The redhead relayed it to her brother and with a nod he grasped the hilt of his sword as we continued. The corridor we were following opened up into a large octagonal room with a high ceiling, up there hanging upside down were five bats about three feet tall, around half the height of Maxwell. The moment we approached the monsters cried out and fell into a dive. My pupils dilated and the ravenous hunger came back as my mouth began to water. Despite the foul ammonia scent in the air, the creatures themselves smelled tasty, and after getting partially impaled I needed this feast. I leaped half my height, snatched one of the bats right out of the air, and snapped its neck in one motion. I couldn''t wait any longer and pulled the monster''s chest open with my claws. I dug into the meat mid-battle and the sweet taste of flesh and blood filled my senses. They didn''t taste as good as some of the things I had eaten on the lower floors but hunger was the best spice. I swallowed down large bites of bat flesh before I found it. THE HEART I bit down on the small organ like an apricot and swallowed the tasty meat in two bites before tossing the corpse back to the hallway and out of the guano that was coating the floor. Just as I looked back at the fight a large flash of pale green light exploded two of the bats into charred corpses. Another of the bats was dead and lying in the muck already and the last of the bats was trying to wrestle with Maxwell''s shield. It seemed he wasn''t able to get a good swing in. "Helena attack monster!" I called out in broken language before coming up on it from behind. I reached around and crushed the base of one of its wings before using the leverage to pull it back and grab the back of its head so I could snap its neck to the side. The body fell limp and I caught it before it could fall on the ground and be ruined. I shook out my hand and I looked to see a rapidly healing bite on my palm. The wound oozed a sickly black color before clearing up and healing the rest of the way. I hope that meant I didn''t need to worry about diseases. I carried the body back to where I had thrown the other''s corpse and dropped it down next to it. I let out a breath and leaned back against the wall to catch my breath. Chapter 21

<~> Chapter 21 We had gathered the bat corpses that weren''t covered in guano and went back to the previous hallway so that we could rest away from the stench of the bat-filled room. The idea of bats hanging out in a very man made looking structure rather than the more obvious cave of the floor beneath us struck me as odd but I just shrugged it off as yet another of the weird things that seemed to happen in this world. Maxwell was working on salvaging the wings of the two bats I managed to kill without letting them touch the floor. Unfortunately, the ones that Luna had char-grilled weren''t salvageable and all of us agreed not to bother with the other that had rolled on the ground. While he worked I just rested in my lupine form against the wall with my eyes shut. After a few minutes, my ears started to ring. I instinctually shook my head but it didn''t help. I reached up and covered my ears but that didn''t seem to make any difference either. I stood up and shifted back to my human form but the ringing didn''t go away. Feeling frustrated I pushed a finger into my ear to see if there was something stuck in there but no. Just a high-pitched ringing that wouldn''t go away. ("Are you okay Helena? You''re acting a little strange,") Luna cautiously asked me. Thankfully the words she spoke to me through the rings didn''t make the high-pitched ringing sound worse. I shook my head again before answering. ("My ears started ringing and they won''t stop. It''s really uncomfortable.") ("Ringing? Did my magic affect you in the fight? I know your hearing is sensitive but I hadn''t thought it was bothering you.") Luna looked pensive and worried. ("No,") I answered. ("The ringing only just started while I was sitting he¡ª") "Ah!" Suddenly the ringing stopped and everything was so loud. I clenched my eyes shut and covered my ears but it felt like everything was booming around me. Every noise I heard was echoing off of every wall. ("Helena! Are you okay?") Luna crouched down next to me and gently laid a hand on my shoulder as I whimpered at all the noise. Even the noises that bounced off the walls hurt my ears. Damnit, why won''t it stop? Luna stepped away and walked over to the others, each of her normally quiet steps clopped and sent echoes all over the walls. She tapped onto Maxwell''s shoulder and I could hear his whispered question as if he was standing right next to me. Piper stomped over with her pounding boots and practically yelled in my ears. It was too much. I stood up and leaned on the wall, taking some distance away from them. After only two steps I shifted back to my werewolf form so I wouldn''t have to hear my own loud stomping too as I got away from them. Thankfully my rough paw pads didn''t make much sound as I took some distance, only the sound of scratching on the stone floors. ("I need to get away from you three right now, everything is too loud. I have a splitting headache,") I managed to get out before walking down the hall. I wasn''t able to settle down until I had made my way back to the guano room. The smelly odor took some of the edge off of the intensity of my hearing, though I still felt overwhelmed by all of the sounds that continued to echo through the hallway and in my head. While it wasn''t as painful from this distance, I could still hear Piper and Maxwell talking clearly as if I were sitting next to them. I opened my eyes and took in a deep breath of the nearby scents. I sat down and did something I hadn''t done in a while. I tried again to meditate. Everything was too much I needed to do something. I slumped back against the wall behind me and fixated on a single point in front of me. I wasn''t truly looking at anything but the extra sensations made the noise easier to bear. I took a shuddering breath and tried to clear my mind, trying to focus on only my breath and shut everything else out. Focus. In. Out. It was difficult to stay fixated on my breath. I could still hear everything around me. I shook my head and fixated on the point in front of me again. If I couldn''t shut everything out maybe I should do the opposite. Listen. Try to get used to the noise. I took another shuddering breath and just took everything in. I could hear footsteps a hallway away. Maxwell and Piper were still talking in worried half-whispers. Luna paced back and forth, I could hear the sound of her wringing her hands, the friction of her skin made sound as they rubbed against one another. I could hear Luna''s breathing. Rough, hoarse, and gravelly. This was what her breathing always sounded like from the scarred flesh around her throat. The noise was clear to me now though, I would be able to spot it from a mile away. As Luna paced back and forth echoes pooled off of her boots and bounced against the walls giving me an idea of the shape of the hallway and where Maxwell and Piper were standing purely based on how the sound bounced around. Furrowing my brows and tilting my head I realized that it was almost as if I could see the shape of them. My hearing was now so acute that I could track the people in the other room as they moved around. I shook my head and closed my eyes, they had started to hurt from staring so long. When I closed my eyes the sounds became all the more clear as my sight no longer distracted me. "This isn''t helpful," I mumbled to myself. I didn''t need to practice hearing things at a distance, I needed to practice shutting things out that I didn''t need. I took a deep breath and focused on that. Now that I was focusing on my body I could hear my own heartbeat, the blood rushing through my veins, the air filling my lungs. In... Out... In... Out... I focused only on my own body in that moment. My hearing mixed with my proprioception, I could hear what I could feel. It was an odd sensation. In... Out... In... Out... Another exhale... I could still hear other things, the echoes, the loud whispers, the pacing. Inhale. The sounds weren''t as overwhelming anymore. Everything was still loud but it was... manageable. Exhale. The sounds of my own body were odd, it was strange to be able to hear everything so clearly but I was getting a handle on how to filter things and classify them. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Taking one last deep breath, I stood up and walked back towards my group. ("Helena... are you feeling better?") Luna asked. I could hear worry in her heart''s voice. I nodded. ("Better now. My hearing... sharply improved for some reason. I can hear a lot better now but it was overwhelming.") ("Do you need to stop and rest?") she asked. I shook my head. ("No, I''m okay to keep going. I think I need to keep moving if I want to get used to this. Sitting around and resting will only make things harder on me, I think.") Luna didn''t look convinced but she didn''t argue with me. She walked over to the two others and sent a message to Piper from the look of things. Piper nodded and said something to Maxwell. They were talking about me and about continuing, but it was hard to get a clear understanding with the language barrier. Piper seemed to want to wait but Maxwell wanted to continue. He smelled tense, worried about our pace, perhaps the time we were wasting. I came over and put a hand on Luna''s shoulder. "Helena okay. Continue," I spoke aloud to them. Piper smiled and put her hand on her chest. ".... okay. .... can continue." I squinted my eyes before realizing what she was trying to teach me. "I''m okay. We can continue," I repeated. Maxwell smiled and said something to his sister who shrugged back at him. "Fine .... let''s go," she replied. Luna gave me a concerned smile and placed her hand on top of mine. ("If you''re really okay, then we can keep going.") I nodded. Things were still a bit uncomfortably loud but I was starting to get the hang of things. Their boots still sounded like stomping, my own did too in my human form, but my increased hearing gave me another unexpected boon. Things sounded odd when traps were around. Tripwires, pressure plates, and hidden holes in the floor and walls, all of them made unique sounds that were easy for me to hear now. Our pace increased a lot just because I was able to regularly point out the traps we were coming across. Eventually I started hearing another odd sound. ("I hear something up ahead, not bats but something moving.") ("Slimes?") she asked. ("I don''t know, I''ve never seen slimes before so I don''t know what they sound like,") I replied. Luna stopped and signaled something to him. He nodded and said something to Piper about me and slimes. I guessed Luna was able to relay what I had said for the most part using only hand signals. We advanced forward with Maxwell taking the lead with his shield held up. I could probably detect any traps just as well from behind him and if there were slimes ahead it would be better for him to be in front with his shield. At least until I could see how difficult it was to fight them. We progressed until we could see the room. Despite them being in eyesight, they hadn''t detected us yet. It was unlikely they could see in the same way that we did. There were eight of them, four large ones about half the height of my companions and four smaller ones, half the size of that. Up close the noises they made were kind of gross, like farting noises you could make with something goopy. They didn''t really smell like anything which was kind of a relief, even if bad smells didn''t bother me as much it was nice to have a clean nose for once. Maxwell ran forward and bashed one of the larger ones with his shield. All of the slimes started to circle him as a large glowing red circle appeared under his feet. My eyes widened in concern until I realized that it was Luna''s magic that was creating the circle. ("Is it safe for me to go and help?") I asked Luna. She just nodded, not using the rings to answer right now. I dashed into the room from the other side of the monsters, hoping to keep them between the two of us but the moment I was nearby something unexpected happened. All of the slimes decided to attack me instead. All eight of them started ignoring Maxwell and his shield and instead launched themselves at me. My eyes widened and I dodged away which had the unfortunate timing of dragging the slimes out of Luna''s magic just as it triggered. It only caught one of the bigger ones and two of the smaller ones. The cores I was told about clacked to the floor like marbles on concrete as I continued to dodge the monsters. "Helena! .... .... .... ...." Maxwell yelled something to me as I kept dodging but I had no idea what it was. I decided to just risk the acid burns from the slimes, maybe they wouldn''t be as bad as I was warned. The next time one of the smaller ones jumped at me I pointed my fingers and stabbed into it before grabbing the core and yanking it out. Absolute agony. I killed the slime but my arm halfway up my forearm was burning. I screamed as I shook off the slime that was clinging to me. It felt as if I stuck my arm into a pot of boiling water, the acid was eating at my fur and skin. I wasn''t able to focus on evading the slimes anymore so when one of the larger ones slammed its weight against me I was sent stumbling, the only thing that kept me from falling was that the monster was a lot smaller than me. I couldn''t keep hold of the core and it dropped to the ground. For whatever reason Maxwell wasn''t able to take the monster''s attention off of me so I just kept on dodging as I cradled my painfully stinging arm. Unlike the other wounds I had taken it wasn''t healing on its own, all of the smoky black fur had fallen out and all I could see was bright pink melted-looking skin. Finally, another gout of magic was released from a circle on the floor I hadn''t even noticed and all of the slimes perished. "Helena! Come .... now!" Piper yelled at me. I sniffed and wiped the tears from my eyes with my good arm and shakily held out my painfully burned arm. Piper gripped my arm above the burn and held me steady as she poured clean water over the acid. It was incredibly painful but it had been the right move as the burning sensation finally went away. As soon as she was satisfied a warm light suffused my arm and the skin started healing. The magic healing felt itchy but soon my skin was perfectly intact again and fur started to regrow across it. Piper panted and wiped the sweat from her brow as she turned my arm this way and that, looking over the wound. When she was satisfied she stepped away and leaned against the wall behind her. I ran my fingers through the shorter fur and let out a breath of relief. It felt okay again, the fur was weird in that spot now but everything felt back to normal. I slumped against the wall too and closed my eyes. Today had been a shit day. Chapter 22

<~> Chapter 22 ("Are you alright Helena?") Luna asked after crouching down next to me. It had been a little while, maybe fifteen minutes, maybe half an hour. I was a little scared to shift back to my human form and see if the acid burn had affected that form too... ("That... was one of the most painful experiences I have ever felt...") I replied. Luna gave me a sad smile. ("I tried to warn you. On the bright side, we now know your healing doesn''t hold up well to acid...") I let out a huff before running my fingers through the shortened fur on my right arm. I had been expecting the fur to grow back but it hadn''t yet. Other than that, nothing felt different after being healed. ("Is there a reason you haven''t shifted back yet?") she asked. I frowned, looks like she had noticed. ("I''m... afraid something will have happened to it. What if my arm comes out scarred and disfigured?") My eyes unconsciously traced over the scars on her neck and I winced when she noticed. ("Sorry... I didn''t mean¡ª") ("It''s okay.") She trailed her fingers along the rough unevenly folded skin along her throat. It almost looked like it had been stitched that way, intentionally closed in an uneven and rough manner. ("Piper has improved a lot since this happened... and the damage was a lot more severe. Not to discount the pain from your burn but my throat was a mess when it happened. Piper saved my life and I''m grateful to her for it. If anything I''m sad that she blames herself for not doing better... and the rings.") She shook her head. ("Anyway, if something has happened to your arm, we should know about it. Better to see what''s happened now.") I nodded and took a breath before shifting back to my human form. Holding out my arm, everything looked normal. I sighed in relief... and realized just how worried I had actually been about this. The realization was... odd. I had been almost cut in half but the idea of an acid burn scared me more than that. Luna reached forward and took my hand, running her smooth fingers against the skin. ("Everything looks fine. Not even any discoloration or anything. It''s as if nothing ever happened when you''re in this form.") I nodded and shifted just my arm to my elbow back into the wolf. The line where the fur got shorter was there, clear as day in this form. ("Well, it''s not like it never happened. It looks like my wolf form and my human form are separate.") ("Maybe... your powers work very strangely. I''m unsure what to compare it to,") she said. Maxwell came over and crouched down. ".... okay?" I nodded. "Helena... I''m okay." I replied. "Good," he said with a relieved smile. I stood up and shifted back to my full werewolf form, I felt even safer in it after the acid burn I received. I trailed my fingers through the shorter fur and frowned. That could have been my real hand. Or... well... my human one. Was I looking at things wrong? Was it more like I had two bodies rather than one? Whatever, let''s just continue. Maxwell asked Luna something and she tapped me on the shoulder. ("When we were fighting all of the slimes, they all started chasing you. Did you do something?") I shook my head. ("No, they just started chasing me. If I did something, it wasn''t intentional.") Maxwell asked her something and she nodded, then something else and she shook her head. After a moment she turned back to me. ("We''ll have to be extra careful around slimes from now on. We''re not sure why they were so attracted to you. It may have something to do with your strange abilities but we don''t know for sure. For now, it''s probably best if you stay out of the fights with slimes, it makes them harder to deal with. Maxwell already collected all of the slime cores while you two were resting so we''re ready to go when you are.") "Ready," I said out loud. It was one of the words they used often enough that I had picked it up. I led the way forward again using my newly keen sense of hearing to pick out the traps that lay in our path. Hearing the way sounds echoed around gave me an intuitive sense of where everything was in relation to myself, it was a strange feeling. It wasn''t even as though I had to keep track of it, I just automatically got a sense of where everything was. Maxwell and Piper were quietly talking behind me as we traversed the hallways. We had to stop frequently to disarm traps but other than that we didn''t run into any more trouble with the traps. Even when going first as a meatshield, my improved hearing made it so that I found all the traps before they triggered. I was pretty happy since getting stabbed in the side earlier hadn''t been much fun. After a while, I heard more bats down one hall at a fork in the path. ("Bats that way,") I told Luna, pointing down one of the hallways. Luna tapped on Maxwell''s shoulder before signaling something to him and turning back to me. ("Would you rather kill more bats or take our chances on a different path?") I licked my lips unconsciously before realizing it. ("I could use more to eat and the slimes aren''t edible, even for me. We should probably kill the bats while we can.") She giggled. ("It''s funny, a lot of hunters, especially new ones, need to be coaxed into extra fights but you''re perfectly happy to take them.") She turned to Maxwell and signaled something else. What they were doing didn''t seem quite as advanced as what I''ve seen of ASL, it looked more like signals soldiers would use in movies. Just with a bit more pantomiming to get her point across. Luna could hear perfectly fine so Maxwell rarely bothered to reply with the same hand signals. I''d only seen him do it a few times when monsters were around. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! The group came to a consensus and we started headed toward the upcoming bat room. As we got closer though something didn''t seem the same... ("Luna, I think I''m hearing bats again but... I don''t know, one of them sounds deeper, maybe it''s bigger?") I told her. Luna turned to Piper and after a silent moment, Piper told Maxwell what I was hearing. While doing this was draining Piper''s mana a bit, this kind of information was important to relay. Maxwell said some stuff to them while Luna listened closely before turning to me. ("Maxwell says that if what you''re hearing is a larger bat, then we might have come across an elite variant of the bats. They tend to be tougher than a normal bat but only about as different as a hobgoblin is to a goblin. Not as large a jump as it would be to the goblin king. Are you up for fighting a larger bat?") I nodded. ("As long as it''s not a larger slime I think I''m good.") She quietly laughed as I turned to Maxwell. "I''m good." I did that strange hand gesture, the three fingers held up sideways to them. It seemed like an approximation of a ''thumbs-up'' to them. Luna chuckled. ("You actually just did it backwards.") "Oh." I turned my hand around which made the other two laugh too. Maxwell patted my shoulder. "Okay. Lead ...." I nodded and followed the tunnel I was hearing the larger bat from. There were still a few traps between us and the monster bat but those were taken out quickly and without much fuss. The echoes made spotting them easy by now, I could even disable them or trigger them harmlessly without much difficulty since I could usually hear where the mechanisms were leading. Not long later we reached a wooden door at the end of a hallway. "Door," I helpfully pointed out. Maxwell turned and looked at me like I was an idiot, which made me grin a little. He turned to Luna and asked her something. ("He''s asking if the elite bat is through that door.") I nodded, the smell of guano was unmistakable by now. ("Should I go in first?") I asked turning towards Luna. She smiled and pointed towards Maxwell. I turned to Maxwell. "I''m first?" I tried to ask. He chuckled but shook his head. "I''m .... first." I nodded and stepped back. "Door... okay." I realized I had no idea how to say ''safe'' but luckily he seemed to understand. Maxwell held up his shield, lightly pushing it against the door before awkwardly releasing the latch with his other hand and slamming it open in one motion. He ran into the room with his shield held up and yelled something just as he slammed the shield into the giant nine-foot-tall bat that tried to swoop down on him. There were four other bats in the room, we would need to move quickly so Maxwell didn''t get overwhelmed before we could help him. I pounced at one of the bats and grabbed it right out of the air as fire magic shot off in the opposite direction and struck at one of the others. I took the bat I had snatched and bit down on its neck, taking the whole head into my mouth. I twisted my head and tore it off before tossing the entire corpse back through the door we had come through. Another of the bats was fighting with Piper''s shield, trying to pull the thing off of her as she held the straps tight. This seemed to be a common strategy of theirs as this same thing had happened to Maxwell the last time we were fighting them. Just like last time I came up from behind it and broke its head off at the neck before twisting its claws off her shield and tossing the corpse through the hallway with the other one. Right over my shoulder fire magic loudly popped next to my ear making me turn and wince from the sudden loud sound. I turned back to the bat to see it falling to the ground limp. I flicked my ear as I grabbed the charred corpse out of the air, broke its neck for good measure, and tossed it with the others. I turned and saw that the last burned one had hit the ground already and rolled in the guano but at least it was dead. That meant all of us could focus again on the giant bat Maxwell was still struggling with. The benefit of fighting a giant screeching bat was that it was a much bigger target to hit. Already bloody red slashes marked its legs where Maxwell had managed to inflict a few wounds. Unfortunately, it was a whole lot tougher and had the strength to match. Every time the bat''s claws tried to pull at Maxwell''s shield, he was nearly pulled off of his feet and had to struggle to keep solid ground under him without losing his footing. ("Maxwell says to kill it without damaging the wings!") Luna called out to me through the rings. I circled behind the monster while looking for a good opening. The monster was flapping furiously to keep itself in the air while trying to pull Maxwell''s shield away from him. My breathing slowed and my pupils dilated as time felt like it began to crawl. I skulked closer, waiting for my opportunity. There! Maxwell managed to knock the bat''s wing away from him with his mace which made the entire monster tilt to the side just enough for me to reach in and wrap my claws around its leg. Snap! I ripped its entire leg off at the joint, the thing screeched so badly that my ears started ringing again but blood poured from its torn leg. It had been knocked off balance so much that Maxwell took the opportunity to pummel the Monster in its chest so hard I heard another snap. The thing fell to the ground before slipping and falling on its face giving Maxwell the perfect opening to crush the monster''s head like a watermelon. I rushed forward and grabbed its wings and held them up before any more than the very bottom edges dragged through the shit on the floor. Piper slipped in and cut off each wing with her sword which let me pull the wings off and carry them out of the room. They''re not pristine, but these wings were far too big to pass up. I couldn''t imagine them not being worth something. Once we got them back through the door and out of the gross guano room I managed to lay them down separately. "Helena!" Maxwell called out. I turned to see him giving me that backward E shape. Chapter 23

<~> Chapter 23 After cleaning off the large bat wings and removing the wings from the smaller ones, I ate a few of the smaller bats as a snack. The large bat was tempting but it had already rolled in guano and I didn''t want to risk any diseases any more than I already was. I was regularly eating raw meat now, best not push it by eating stuff that rolled in bat droppings too. My friends were starting to get used to my eating habits and I felt less of a need to drag the monsters away from the group before eating them. They still had slightly disgusted looks when watching me eat but I think that was more directed at the action and less at me specifically. I could live with that. That fight had been draining for everyone so we doubled back and rested in one of the rooms we had already cleared of traps, just far enough away to avoid the smell. We only planned to take a short break here, I was told the next floor was a lot more pleasant to relax in. At the very least the next floor wouldn''t have as many traps on it, if any at all, so we could speed up our pace a lot if we wanted to. The slow methodical pace we had on this floor was starting to make me a bit impatient. I could also live without fighting slimes again if I could help it. I licked the last of the blood from my mouth and peered over at Luna. She was holding one of the slime cores and staring at it intently. The dull core started to shine and a soft red glow lit up the area around her. I felt my heart speed up a little, the focused intense look she was giving the glowing magic stone made the mage all the prettier in the dim red light. She turned her focus away from the stone and met my eyes, smiling as the magic glow started to fade away. Realizing I had been caught staring I cleared my throat and came over to sit next to her. ("What are you doing?") I asked. Her eyes turned back to the stone in her hands, still smiling. ("Mana cores from slimes can be used to regenerate mana more quickly. It takes a lot of focus but I''m able to siphon the mana out of it to recharge my mana pool faster. I gave the rest of them to Piper, she''ll be able to use them to talk with us more often. They regenerate mana over time by pulling it from the air but only so much mana can be taken from them before they eventually break. Another floor further up has slimes on it too, so these cores aren''t worth very much here. They''re more useful as tools rather than trying to sell them up in the dungeon town.") I took a closer look at the dull looking stone. I wondered if that had been the one I pulled out of the slime I fought. ("So it''s kind of like a battery then?") I asked. Luna''s smile faltered. ("Sorry, I don''t know what that word means.") I nodded, unsurprised. ("Don''t worry about it. So if these stones are helpful, should we go out of our way to get more of them? To make it easier for you to talk to the others too?") Luna tilted her head and looked off to the side in thought. ("Normally it wouldn''t be worth the time but considering that we''ve gotten a lot more out of this trip than we had expected already, it might not be a bad idea. It would make it a bit easier for the others to talk to you too. Let me ask the others.") ("Sure,") I replied. Luna walked off to talk to the others while I thought about fighting the slimes again. I hadn''t been intentionally avoiding them, but had we not talked about how useful those stones were, I might have considered avoiding them in the future. I still wasn''t sure how I would deal with them though... "Helena," Piper called out to me. I looked over and the group was beckoning me to come over. I shifted back to my human form and walked over. It felt more... proper to talk to them like this. I was probably spending too much time as a werewolf anyway. It made sense when I was in potentially dangerous situations but I probably shouldn''t stay like that all the time. ("They want to know if you figured anything out about why those slimes were chasing you,") Luna told me. I shook my head. ("Not really, no. The bats didn''t react the same way, only the slimes, so I have no idea.") ("The other question is whether or not you can fight them without burning yourself again, Piper said that healing you was expensive. It wasn''t a big deal, that was the only time she''s needed to heal you so far, but we should try to avoid that situation again,") Luna continued. I began to rub the arm that still had slightly shorter fur. ("That hurt like hell, I wouldn''t want to repeat that if I can help it either.") ("Right,") Luna said with a nod. ("Which is why it seems like hunting more slimes seems like a bad idea, even if it would be helpful for using the rings more often. It looks like we''ll have to be careful with the ones we have. Maybe by the time we get to the next floor with slimes, we''ll have a better solution.") I sighed. ("You''re right, even if it''s unfortunate.") With that settled, we all put away the few things we had pulled out to rest and got moving. I shifted back into my werewolf form when we reached the guano room, as much as it felt gross on my pawpads to walk through it, I was somehow even more concerned about stinking up my boots with it. The smell on my feet would fade and I already had walked through it before while fighting. I didn''t want to make my new boots stink like guano forever too. I was going slow, trying to avoid as much of it as I could. While lost in my thoughts and walking through the elite bat room, my arm was caught by Luna who tugged at it to get my attention. I turned toward her and she was pointing up at the ceiling. I followed her gaze and my eyes widened when I realized what she was pointing at. There was a chest embedded in the ceiling. "Piper," I said to get the healer''s attention. When she and Maxwell turned to look back at us she looked up at the direction Luna was pointing. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. There was a chest straight above us, it was nearby where the large monster presumably had nested. The bat swooped down at us when we first entered the room so none of us really bothered to look up that far until now. In the back of my mind I had been wondering why we didn''t get any treasure from fighting an elite monster but I just figured things didn''t work that way and the others would know better than I did. I looked around at the walls, this room had a few ledges made from decorated brickwork but nothing quite made it all the way up there. The chest was also in the center of the ceiling, meaning that even if we managed to climb up we would have to climb from stalactite to stalactite to reach it. The stalactites looked a bit out of place in the otherwise man-made looking room but I hadn''t questioned that until now. Maybe they were there because of the chest. I turned to Luna. ("How are we gonna get that down?") Luna turned to look at me and then only a moment later Piper and Maxwell were looking at me too. My eyes widened and I pointed at myself. ("Me? You want me to scale that wall and monkey-bar my way across those stalactites?") She smiled up at me. ("Sure! I''m not sure what ''monkey-bar'' means, but it should be easy for you!") Without even hearing our conversation Maxwell and Piper immediately began to pat me on the back and give me unintelligible encouragements as I was ushered toward one of the walls. I scoffed and looked at the wall more closely. The wall was made of bricks but I couldn''t tell if they would be easy to climb. I could try stabbing into the walls with my claws but I hadn''t tried that on this floor yet. At least the walls weren''t covered in guano too. Because of the 90-degree angle from the floor to the wall, there were only some spots covered in guano, mostly near the bottom. I sighed and rubbed my hands together before reaching out and trying to grab the bricks. They were smooth but not slippery, I could kind of grab the edges of the bricks but they didn''t stick out too far. I tried shoving my claws into the wall. The bricks were solid and dense, I would be able to scar them if I slashed at them but I didn''t think I would have enough leverage to push directly into the bricks themselves while trying to climb the wall. Instead, I tried pushing my claws in between the bricks, into the mortar, and bingo. This would be doable. Even better, pushing into the mortar let me use the bricks as handholds. Okay, it wouldn''t be easy, but I could do this. Taking a deep breath, which I regretted from the awful smell, I reached up and dug my claws between the bricks and hoisted myself up. I was a lot less agile with my foot claws but I managed to find a spot between two bricks and wedge my toe-claws into it too. Once I felt stable I reached up and dug my claws into another brick higher up. This was grueling. I couldn''t help but grumble when Luna gave me some words of encouragement when I reached the halfway point, a small ledge I was balanced on. This was the last resting point I would have before climbing to the top and climbing across the stalactites. Even resting here wasn''t all that refreshing, I was still balancing on the the small lip. I shimmied against the wall, getting myself closer to where I would be able to reach the nearest stalactites when I made it to the top. Once my breath was even again I decided to get going. I grunted and kept moving forward, shoving my now aching claws between the next set of bricks and continuing to hoist myself up to the next spot. Eventually I reached the ceiling and was in arms reach of one of the stalactites. This part would be tricky and while my new body seemed really durable, I didn''t want to test how easily I would be able to take a fall from this height. I gripped the brick tightly in one hand and leaned out toward the stalactite. I didn''t know for sure how stable they were so I gave it a few shoves to make sure the whole thing wouldn''t just fall when I tried to put my body weight onto it. Even pushing most of my weight against it, the rock seemed stable. I dug my claws into the stone stalactite next. Unlike the brick, the stalactite was slightly slick but felt just as yielding as the stone walls on the floor I originally woke up on. I dug my claws in as deeply as I could and tried again to yank the stone pillar but thankfully it didn''t budge. Okay, now or never. Using my feet to wedge myself between the stalactite and the wall I released the brick and dug my other hand into a different stalactite. Now both of my claws were dug into stalactites in front of me while my feet were still pushing against the wall behind me. I would have to pull my legs forward and claw into the sloped stalactite and hope these things would support my weight without any issue. I made the dumb mistake of looking down at the ground and was suddenly questioning how in the hell I had been talked into this so easily. The ground looked so far away and I was about to swing myself forward onto stone stalactites hanging from the ceiling. I had never been particularly acrophobic but I had also never done anything like this before. I don''t think I''ve even had the arm and hand strength for something like this until very recently. However, despite all of my worried anxiety-filled thoughts, I was smiling ear to ear. This whole thing was thrilling. I felt alive. This felt different from the twisted instincts that told me to do things like eat raw meat and rip monsters apart. No, this was me. I was enjoying this. Getting a thrill out of this. And that was why I curled my back and swung forward onto the hanging pillar of stone over the distant floor. I think I''m a burgeoning adrenaline junkie. I think I enjoy putting myself at risk and coming out the other side stronger. Once all four of my limbs were dug into the stalactites this next part was actually easier than I had expected. The stalactites were solid, I didn''t need to worry about them falling. My sharp claws dug into the stone like they were made from clay and for the first time I realized that this stone wasn''t much weaker than the stone I was accustomed to. No, I was just that strong now. In less time than I had spent climbing up the wall, I had traveled from pillar to pillar until I reached the chest. I wiggled it and pulled at it but the whole thing was stuck there as solidly as the stalactites were. ("Helena, just open it from there. The only thing that could break are potions and other glass wares, it''s not a big deal if we lose a few this way,") Luna''s voice called out to me through the rings, all the way from the ground. ("Okay, I''ll try.") I reached for the lock and managed to pull it off with a tug. The metal of the lock was brittle this time so it broke apart without any trouble. The contents of the chest spilled out and tumbled to the ground but more surprisingly to me, a knotted rope spun out with one end tied to a bar on the inside. The spooled rope undid itself until the very last knot touched the floor with a foot to spare. I reached forward and tugged on it hard, hoping that it would be an easier way down than having to go back to the brick wall. It felt solid so I took the chance. It wouldn''t have been any safer to go back the way I came, my muscles were screaming by now and I wasn''t sure how much more I could take. I hoped that this wasn''t some mean spirited trick by the dungeon, but a subtle reward for taking on its difficult challenge. Finally, I let go of the last stalactite and transferred my full weight to the rope. It felt sturdy but I didn''t want to test it, so I swiftly climbed down eager to reach the bottom. If it wasn''t for the guano covering the floor I would have collapsed right there, luckily I had the wherewithal to follow the others back into our previous resting room before collapsing onto the floor and giving myself a well-earned rest. I would see what all of that was for after a little nap. Chapter 24

<~> Chapter 24 After a good half-hour or so of lying on the floor, Luna roused me from the spot on the floor I had slumped over. ("Are you feeling a bit better now?") she asked with a cute smile. I yawned and sat up. The others were still looking over the small pile of things that had fallen out of the chest. Loot! I had been so tired from that whole encounter that I hadn''t even cared to see what we had gotten yet but now that I''ve caught my breath I felt more inclined to see if any of that was actually worth it. I shifted back to my human form and followed Luna over to where the others had separated the stuff into a few piles. There was a sword in a fine looking leather sheathe, an oversized kite shield, another pouch that had a pile of coins inside, a... metal thing, and a dark folded cloth of some kind. Piper and Maxwell looked absolutely ecstatic at the find. Assuming all of it was useful to us, there would be something for each of us plus the bag of gold. It appears that the mysterious dungeon is interested in us right now. I''m not sure the thought was reassuring after everything Luna has told me. ("Maxwell has been waiting for you to catch your breath before we talked about splitting anything other than the gold,") Luna told me. ("He''s been itching to look at the sword though,") she said with an amused swish of her tail. I nodded and gestured for Maxwell to look. He took the non-verbal cue with enthusiasm and reached out to pick up the sword. The place where the hilt met the sheath had been bound in leather so it took a bit of work for him to start untying the knots. His enthusiasm was probably making him take longer to untie it though which kind of made me laugh. Despite being a grown man, he reminded me of a kid on Christmas morning. The sword was pretty long and it struck me as odd that we had found such a long sword inside of that small box, let alone the big kite shield. With a frown, I turned to Luna. ("Hey, this stuff did come out of the chest on the ceiling, right? How did all of that fit in there? The shield and sword look bigger than the chest was deep.") She tilted her head at the question. ("Dungeon chests are larger on the inside, didn''t you see them fall out of it?") I stared at her blankly. The way she said that was so matter of fact. Like I was the one that was weird for asking. I turned back to look at the sword again just as Maxwell had finally triumphed over the leather cord that had been holding the sword shut. He slid the blade out of its sheath and a reflective blue sheen illuminated our faces. The blade looked like a work of art, fine patterns of ivy were etched in the blade of the sword nearly from base to point. My first thought was that it was a ceremonial sword but with a bit of testing, the blade proved to be razor-sharp. ("A magic blade,") Luna informed me. ("It looks like it was crafted by a master and reinforced with magic. We haven''t found many chests since we''ve been exploring the dungeon but this one puts everything we''ve found to shame... easily.") Maxwell sheathed the sword with a satisfying click before looking up at us and saying something. I turned to Luna who translated before I could ask. ("He''s asking if there are any objections to him taking the sword.") His eyes were focused on me, maybe expecting me to be the only one who would challenge his claim on the magic sword. I shook my head, I didn''t know how to use a sword anyway and I don''t know its value past how pretty it looked. ("That''s fine with me,") I told Luna. She signed something at him and he smiled widely and stood up to swap out his old sword on his belt with the new one. My eyes turned back to the other items but Maxwell tapped me on the shoulder and drew my attention back to him. He was holding his old sword out to me, trying to get me to take it. I took his old sword a bit confused and looked at Luna, hoping to get some clarification on what he was asking. ("He wants you to take his old sword, the new one more than replaces it and that sword might make you a bit more able to handle the slimes. Especially with the next item we''re about to look at.") Luna gestured to the large kite shield. I turned to her. ("Wouldn''t it make the most sense for one of them to take that too? I don''t even know how to use a sword and shield.") She smiled and shook her head. ("That kite shield is huge, it looks more like a tower shield on any of us. Maxwell uses tower shields but that shield is the wrong shape for his fighting style and it''s not light enough for Piper to use effectively. I''m pretty sure the dungeon put that shield in the chest with you in mind.") I picked up the shield and turned it over. It was made of polished metal and riveted wood about twice as long as it was wide. The outside was painted in navy and white and the inside part of the shield was treated with something that had stained the wood a dark color. The thought crossed me that it was lighter than I expected but I realized that I was just stronger than I realized now. The inside had large oversized handles in a few places and it had a long adjustable strap that looked like it was made for carrying the shield on my back. The shield was almost as tall as I was, I could still use it like this but it seemed to be sized for my wolf form rather than my human one. Stepping away, I shifted into my wolf form and found that the handles fit my hand perfectly, giving credence to the idea that it was purposefully given to me. In my wolf form it was proportionally a little over half my height, looking like a better match to how an actual shield should look sized to my huge body. I picked up the sword from the ground but it was way too small to fit in my hands like this. If I wanted to use Maxwell''s old sword I would only be able to do it in my human form, which I was far less enthusiastic about. I rested the big shield on the ground and looked back over at the group. ("How do you like it?") Luna asked. I shrugged. ("I never thought I had needed a shield but since the dungeon decided to give me one I suppose I''ll take it. None of you can use it effectively so I might as well give it a try. Maybe it''ll help with the slimes if nothing else.") Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. She nodded. ("Let me help you with that then.") She walked over and motioned for me to lower down. I followed her pointing and kneeled down kind of awkwardly, I wasn''t used to sitting like this with my backward bending legs. She stepped forward and started adjusting the large looped strap that was hanging from the shield. ("This is a guige, it''ll make it easier to carry on your back and shoulder when you don''t need it.") I felt a bit embarrassed by how she leaned over and touched me to adjust the strap over my shoulder. I probably shouldn''t be, she wasn''t doing anything inappropriate, but the proximity of her smaller body against mine made me blush. I was lucky that it didn''t show on my shadowy wolf face. ("Good. Is that comfortable?") she asked with a big smile. I stood up and moved the shield around. It hung on my back a little loosely but it wasn''t uncomfortable in the spot it rested. I reached back and was able to rotate the whole thing over my shoulder and into position to block. The motion didn''t feel that natural but I would probably get used to it quickly. ("Yeah, it feels good. Thanks.") Piper said something that made the other two laugh. I could take the hint that she was getting impatient and wanted to look at the next item. When I shifted forms I found that the shield was still hanging from my body without any trouble but it didn''t hang in as good of a spot. I pulled at the overly large guige and was able to loop the strap in a loose slipknot that kept it in place for now but it would come undone if I pulled it apart. Happy with that I pulled the shield to the side and sat next to the others to see Piper examining the strange metal... thing. I leaned over to Luna. ("What''s that thing that''s got Piper all excited?") I asked. ("Oh... uh, it''s a magic focus. One specifically for healing I think. If she holds it while channeling her healing magic it should make her healing stronger.") I leaned in and tried to take a closer look at it. It doesn''t really look like anything to me, kind of like a dark metal cylinder with weird engravings on it. I just shrugged and leaned back. ("Any objections then?") Luna asked. I gave her a strange look. ("Why would I object to the healer getting the healing focus?") She laughed and nodded to Piper who immediately went to tuck it into one of the pouches on her belt. The last thing on the floor was a cloth that looked like dark red satin. The cloth gave me a weird itchy feeling but I didn''t know why. Luna gingerly picked it up and unraveled it. It was a long cloth about six feet long and less than half a foot thick. My eyes widened with Luna''s trailing fingers made the cloth subtly change color, leaving bright red streaks along it. ("What is it?") I asked. ("It looks like a sash. I can feel magic radiating off of it but I can''t tell what the effect is. Give me a moment.") Luna turned to Piper who nodded and stood up. ("What''s happening?") I asked, confused by the sudden shift in atmosphere. ("This item seems powerful. I''m not worried about it being cursed, it probably would have activated by now if it was, but it may have unexpected effects. I''m going to try it on so be ready if something happens.") I nodded and shifted back to my wolf form. A curious thought drifted to why my new shield didn''t shift with the rest of my clothes but I shrugged it away. I needed to make sure that Luna was okay if something went wrong. She took a deep breath in her raspy voice and tied the sash around her waist with practiced hands. She tied it in a decorative side knot that let the ends hang in a pleasing way. This must not have been the first sash she''s worn. That itchy feeling spread and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I felt something coat Luna''s form. The fox woman''s eyes widened and they started to glow a faint fiery orange. The air suddenly sharply turned warmer as if a campfire suddenly ignited right next to us. Luna held out her hand palm up as a small fireball swirled to life in her hand, gently spinning and crackling with power. She closed her fist but the small embers floating in the air around her still hung there. ("I can feel the sash improving my fire magic! What used to take concentration feels like it comes naturally to me, like I''m breathing the fire!") Her voice sounded so excited and she quickly turned to Piper, likely repeating herself to the two of them. All of the items we received felt tailor-made to our needs, the dungeon was being nice, which only made me suspicious after all I''ve heard from Luna on how dungeons usually operate. If the dungeon is giving all of us this stuff... should we be worried? The prickly feeling that I was feeling on Luna began to fade as I acclimated to it. It didn''t go away entirely but it wasn''t bothering me as much anymore. It felt like a warm cloak was covering her now, perhaps I was feeling the magic of the sash itself blend with her own. There are so many unknowns about how my abilities work, how everything is supposed to feel, and where they even came from. I had hoped to find some answers from my new friends but even when I learn more about myself, a new strange thing in this world catches me off guard. Luna excitedly turned to me. ("Helena! Maxwell and I want to test our new stuff, let''s go find some slimes!") I just hope this isn''t an elaborate trap from our seemingly helpful dungeon. Chapter 25

<~> Chapter 25 ("I don''t know if I''m comfortable with this Luna...") I said looking down the hallway. On their request, I led the group to a fork in the maze with a path that led to slimes. Now that I had heard them once it was easier to recognize them. The idea of fighting slimes again wasn''t what was bothering me though... ("Have you really never fought anything in your human form? You seemed so strong that I thought you were just unfamiliar with swords.") Luna was looking me up and down. In one hand I had the oversized kite shield and with the other, I rested my hand on the hilt of Maxwell''s old sword. The shield I could use in either form but the sword''s handle was too small for me in my wolf form. Since we were fighting the slimes again, and I wouldn''t be able to fight these things barehanded, they insisted I learn the basics of using a sword. While Luna and Piper rested Maxwell took me through drills over and over. My enhanced stamina and endurance helped me move through the sequence of forms non-stop until the movements felt natural, but the exercise was incredibly boring. Once Maxwell approved of my form enough, he signed off on the part of the plan that I hadn''t been informed of yet. I kind of thought I was only practicing in my human form because we only had a human-sized sword available. What was actually happening was that we were going to go hunt slimes again but this time I would do it in my human form using a sword. I turned and looked at Luna. ("Before coming to the dungeon, I''d never been in a fight before in my entire life... well not a real one anyway. The only thing that''s kept me alive down here are my umber wolf transformation and the instincts that it gives me.") Luna frowned. ("Well... I still think you should give it a try. Maxwell says you''re in perfect shape and quite a bit stronger than the average hunter. Piper will be able to heal you if you get hurt again. If you get overwhelmed all you need to do is block with your shield as best you can and only take swings if you have a good opening. ...None of us will force you to fight in your human form but I think you''ll do fine. I know you have what it takes.") The only thing that didn''t make me drop it outright was Luna''s belief in me. She''s been trying to talk me into this since I realized what we were talking about. I looked over at Maxwell and Piper who were both confused as to why we had stopped. There had been a miscommunication, they hadn''t known I wasn''t comfortable fighting in my human form. Maxwell thought that accepting the sword training had been my tacit approval. I turned back to Luna and gripped the hilt of my sword. I don''t think I would ever feel ready but the only reason I had started fighting the goblins at all was because my body had moved on its own the first time. Maybe I did need to jump in head first. While what had happened to my hand had been excruciatingly painful, as long as I didn''t try and stick my hand inside it again, they wouldn''t be as threatening as a lot of the stuff we fought. Okay. Maybe I could do this. I took a breath and nodded. ("Okay. I''ll try it. Let''s go before I talk myself out of it again.") She smiled and patted my shoulder. ("I know you''ll do great.") I led them down the hallway disarming the traps as we went. Until it was time to fight the slimes I wanted to stay in my wolf form, just in case I missed a trap somewhere. I hadn''t tripped any since I had gotten my hearing under control but I still wanted to minimize risks where I could. Curiously the sword vanished with the rest of my clothes but my shield hadn''t. I didn''t understand the logic behind how the transformation worked but it seemed to know I couldn''t use the sword like this so it disappeared with the rest of my clothes. Did the magic have a mind of its own or did my thoughts influence it? A wooden door appeared as we turned a corner. I could hear the slimes on the other side, their goopy squishing noises stuck out clear as day. I nodded and gestured to the door and my friends fanned out next to me. I shifted back into my human form, grabbed the hilt of my sword, and swung the shield off my back and into my hand. Maxwell had drilled me in using a sword both with and without a shield but with these enemies, I would be needing it if they decided to swarm me again. Maxwell would be using his new sword and Luna would be using her new sash so this fight should be easier than the last one if nothing went wrong. If nothing went wrong. Knock on wood. I lightly tapped my shield with one hand drawing a curious look from Luna. I didn''t feel like explaining my superstition though so I didn''t tell her about it. Maxwell approached the door. One hand was on his shield and the other on the door handle like last time. The plan was similar to the last time we had done this but with better preparation around if they swapped targets to me. He gave me a quick rundown on holding enemy focus and protecting teammates but I had a feeling he didn''t want me to take over his role. Frankly, I didn''t either, I don''t like the idea of being a punching bag for the enemies. If I was forced into being an impromptu punching bag I would suck it up and handle it though. These slimes had been the only things so far that insisted on targeting me. He slammed open the door and charged into the room with his shield. There were twelve smaller slimes this time, all of different colors. I slipped into the room next to give the others some cover to follow in after. I had been waiting for all of the slimes to attack me but that hadn''t happened this time, the ones closest to me bounced off my shield but most of the monsters were focused on Maxwell. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. A warm prickle of heat filled the room as Luna''s magic started to be cast. Standing in the middle of a glowing red magic circle felt like an insanely bad idea but she had reassured me multiple times that she could choose who was affected by her magic and she wouldn''t risk friendly fire with a large area spell like this one. I trusted her but it still made the hair on the back of my neck stand up as I felt something swell around me. My shield was so large that I felt like I was hiding behind a wall at times. I popped out from behind it and tried to stab at one of the slimes in front of me. Maxwell told me that thrusting attacks were the best bet for these particular enemies, even if they usually left you open for longer. Even with the big shield blocking my line of sight I was able to track their movements by ear whenever they hit the ground. Slimes unfortunately were pretty mobile though so it didn''t help once they bounced off and into the air. That''s where timing came in. One of the slimes had just bounced off of my shield and a different slime that was attacking me was about to hit the ground. An opening! I stabbed my sword forward and pierced right to the slime''s core. The core itself was tough but even a small amount of damage to its core was enough to kill a slime. I assumed that the attack destabilized whatever was keeping the ball of goop together but I couldn''t even guess at the rules that governed these things. I had been told that a lot of my questions were more for the realm of scholars instead of hunters like themselves. They were more concerned with how to kill something, not why that killed it. It was a bit disappointing to hear but I could understand their priorities. Once the first one was gone the timing on the second one became easier to handle and in half the time I finished that one off too. The core of the second slime clacked to the ground. Since the slimes I had been fighting were dead I quickly scanned the battlefield and saw that there were only seven left. Maxwell was corralling them around, keeping them from leaving the circle. His glowing blue sword left trails of light as it shaved slices of the slimes off with every swing. It was amazing how sharp his new sword was, the sword he gave me didn''t compare, it would bounce right off the rubbery texture of the slimes if I tried to follow his example. Unfortunately, slicing pieces of the slime off made them smaller but it didn''t really stop them outright. The collection of energy that Luna was collecting finally reached its crescendo and the entire room lit up with a flash of heat. Despite the gout of flames that were shooting up below my feet the warmth was only mild for us. The slimes caught fire and quickly burned away leaving only one that had managed to jump out of the circle just as it had activated. Maxwell sheathed his sword and jumped at the last slime before gripping it and holding it in place. He said something to the other two but I couldn''t understand what he was saying. ("Helena!") Luna called through the rings. ("Maxwell wants you to try and shifting to your wolf form.") I wasn''t entirely sure what the purpose of that was but I didn''t mind. With only one slime left, I didn''t feel threatened so I also sheathed my sword and shifted into my larger wolf form with only a thought. The moment I did the slime stopped struggling to get at Maxwell and started struggling to get at me instead. Maxwell''s grip momentarily weakened and the slime slipped its way off of him to bolt at me. I pulled up my shield and batted it away from me by reflex. Before I could do anything else, Maxwell''s sword cut down into the slime and sliced at its core. The slime''s body immediately broke apart into a puddle and dropped the core to the ground. Maxwell turned to Piper and started talking to her. Luna''s ears perked up and she stepped a bit closer to listen in on the conversation. I couldn''t even begin to pick up what they were talking about. I could understand words here and there but a majority weren''t things I had been taught yet. Once they reached a lull in the conversation Luna turned to me. ("Something about your wolf form was attracting the slimes in a way that wasn''t happening when you were fighting with a sword. We''re thinking that maybe your transformation gives off a constant aura of mana which could attract slimes to it. But if that were true then your transformation would be more similar to a spell than a physical transformation.") I furrowed my brows. A spell? ("I don''t really know anything about magic. If this was a spell why is it happening so... naturally? I couldn''t control my shifting initially, it just happened, it''s not like I''m trying to cast spells.") Luna shrugged. ("I said it was similar to a spell, not actually a spell. None of us are magic scholars or anything. It''s just an interesting observation.") My eyes were drawn to her cute tail that flicked back and forth for a moment before I refocused on her face. ("How did you feel about fighting in your human form?") she asked. ("It felt... fine?") I answered honestly. ("It wasn''t as... scary as I thought it would be... I guess.") She smiled and patted me on the shoulder. ("See, I knew you''d be okay. Slimes are a safer first fight than something like goblins.") She glanced down at my right arm. ("And it''s possible that the slimes being attracted to your magic also had something to do with why they burned you so badly that time.") I reached up and rubbed my arm where that acid burn had been. It had already been healed by the time I turned back into a human but the memories of that time still freaked me out. Even being nearly cut in half had hurt less... but maybe the acid hurt me more because of whatever attracted the slimes. I''m just glad that it hadn''t carried over to my human hand. I don''t know what I would have done if Piper hadn''t been there to heal me. Piper came over holding a pouch of twelve slime cores. She held one in her hand and said something to me through the rings. ("Well, since now we know we can take slimes on safely, how about we go hunt down some more before going up another level? These slime cores will be a big help in communicating with each other properly.") She grabbed Luna by the shoulder and pulled her into a side hug. I chuckled and gave her a smile. ("I guess so. Let''s get hunting.") Chapter 26

<~> Chapter 26 The slime ricocheted off my shield where it got nailed by one of Luna''s bolts of fire. I slashed down at a different slime that was open and killed it all before bringing my large shield back up in front of me. Maxwell was making short work of the slimes on the other side of the room and even Piper had joined the fight directly since the slimes were becoming less and less of a threat as we got used to fighting them. Like the last few times, this slime room had gone fast. It had taken much longer to find another slime room than it had taken to kill all of them. I leaned my large shield on the ground and wiped the sweat from my forehead. One benefit of fighting as a wolf was that I didn''t sweat all over the place. The only reason I wasn''t more self-conscious about it was that I wasn''t the only one who had worked up a sweat. ("It looks like my side bag''s full of cores now. I have about fifty now, that''s probably more than we need for a while,") Piper told me through the rings. After the second slime room, she had become much more liberal with her mana use for the rings. Drawing energy from the cores wasn''t instant but it meant that she didn''t need to worry about wasting all of her mana without the ability to recover it. She had to avoid using the rings in combat but when she could draw energy from one of the cores she could speak to us without any restraint. Luna had a small bag of the slime cores too but she didn''t carry nearly as many as Piper did. I turned toward Luna. ("Why didn''t you guys just hunt some slimes if it made things so much easier to communicate?") She looked up at me and frowned. ("We didn''t really want to spend the time on it. The only reason we have the luxury of hunting slimes on the way back is because we''ve been able to hunt so many things worth a lot of gold on this trip. That and... the guy we had before we met you didn''t want to waste his time on slimes.") I frowned at the reminder of their dead... companion? Teammate? I didn''t know what to call him. The few times that Luna and Piper have talked about the guy haven''t been flattering. It still made me a bit uncomfortable to hear how little his death seems to have affected them emotionally though. Piper even seemed happy he was dead from what I could gather. It felt a little gross to hear how... disposable lives could be in this world. ("Maxwell thinks we''ve spent enough time on this floor. We need to find the stairs soon,") Luna told me. ("Any idea how to find them?") I asked. ("So far everything looks more or less the same.") ("We have an item that can help. It''s usually for emergencies but this floor is confusing enough that it should be fine to use it for this.") Suddenly a loud noise somewhere between a groan and a roar echoed through the walls of the maze we were in. I sheathed my sword and shifted into my wolf form. Whatever made that sound was big and as much as I''ve had some practice fighting in my human form, I''d rather have my claws for whatever made that noise. The others dropped what they were doing and turned in the direction of the noise too. It had been loud enough that the others had heard it. ("What was that?") I asked Luna. Maxwell started speaking quickly and tightened the straps on his backpack. ("Maxwell says we need to run! It''s a floor boss, this one isn''t easy to deal with, we''re better off trying to escape!") Luna said with panic in her voice. Maxwell snapped something in his hands and a golden mist started going toward one of the doors. He pointed and said something along the lines of ''this way!'' from what I could tell. I pushed Luna forward. ("I''ll go last, it''ll be safer that way.") I slung my shield over my back and followed the group through the door. I glanced behind me. The monster wasn''t close enough yet that I could hear its footsteps but the roars were getting closer. We started moving forward as quickly as we could. The floors and walls were still trapped so we couldn''t go at a full-blown sprint but I had gotten so good at noticing the traps that Luna was able to guide Maxwell past them with my help. I couldn''t help but keep looking back. The roars were still getting closer. We had taken turns, gone down a few paths that felt like they were doubling back, and ran down what few lengths of hallway we could, but the roars kept getting closer. ("Luna, what do we do if it catches up to us?") I asked. ("It''s a large bipedal monster that carries a huge axe. All we can really do is fight it if it catches up to us.") ("Would it be better to fight in the open or in a hallway?") There was a pause before Luna answered. ("Probably an open room, it would be too hard for all of us to fight it without getting hurt if we try and fight it in a hallway.") I used the rings to talk to Piper, ("Tell Maxwell to take the next left. I can hear the echo of a large empty room from that direction. We''re not going to outrun that thing, we''re going to need to fight it directly.") ("Fuck, fine. I''ll tell him,") she replied. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Maxwell nodded and turned left at the next fork. This was the first time since he had used it that we turned away from where the golden mist was leading us but I didn''t think we would make it to the stairs at the rate we were going. That thing was getting closer and closer every corridor we walked through. "Shit." I heard Maxwell say as he slammed open the large double doors. The room looked like a large arena, somewhat like a colosseum. The floor was covered in fine white sand ringed in hard-packed dirt, at the edge of the dirt was an iron ring on the edge of a four-yard drop that led to rusty iron spikes below. Past that, tall walls rose and fanned out into large empty stands. There was a gigantic iron grate above us that let blinding natural-looking light into the room. Trying to look through the grate was like trying to look at the sun, it was too bright. Maxwell led us to the middle of the room and spun around to face the door. I could hear the monster''s hulking steps echo through the hallways now. I moved my shield to my arm. Normally I would have less reach without a sword but I felt safer in this form. I cracked my knuckles as the thing approached. The monster had dark black fur that rippled over its muscular humanoid body. On its shoulders was a giant bull''s head with long pointed horns and deep red eyes. The monster crouched down and roared at us, its muscles rippled with the sheer anger poured into its bellow. Here deep in the maze we found ourselves in, was a Minotaur. I would have snorted in amusement if the monster was less threatening. Curled in one of its gnarled hands was a gigantic axe made from a dark looking steel. Before I knew it, my mouth was watering. Something deep in my instincts knew that this thing would be tasty when I ate it. The monster charged at us and for a brief moment I would have considered letting Maxwell try and take it head-on but when he scrabbled out of the monster''s path I knew that I would have to be the one that holds this monster down. I lifted my shield and crashed into it. The minotaur didn''t expect the sudden attack and it stumbled, barely managing to avoid falling into the spikes below. The minotaur shifted all of his attention to me, it looked pissed. It raised up its axe. The monster was slower than me but I had a feeling it was much stronger to make up for that. I jumped forward and flung my shield to the side using the guige to keep it from falling away. My arm reached up and wrapped around the monster''s bicep as I dug my sharp claws into the muscles to hold the monster''s axe arm still. My other hand wrapped around its neck to hold it in place while I did my best to cut off its airway. The minotaur bellowed out in pain and fury as I locked its arm above its head and cut off its leverage. The monster''s other arm slammed into the side of my chest with powerful blows that would have staggered me if I wasn''t so grounded. A loud explosion of fire flared to life behind it and forced the two of us to stagger. I recovered faster, by now I was used to Luna''s controlled explosions and I trusted her not to catch me in the crossfire. Wildly struggling, it started pulling my arm off of its throat. Despite my better leverage, it was able to pull away my arm using its raw strength. It gasped and took in a breath of air before slamming its head into my own, knocking me back, and escaping from my grapple. It panted in lungfuls of air as I recovered from the dizzying attack. When I got my bearings back it let out a scream as Maxwell''s glowing blue sword swiped right through the monster''s achilles tendon. Before it was able to turn and face him I slashed my claws through its chest. Unfortunately, it was only a flesh wound, I wasn''t able to dig in deep enough to hit anything important. But I could hear his heartbeat beneath his chest. Its focus centered back on me as it took a bloody step forward and slashed at me wildly with its gigantic axe. The weapon was huge and looked to be made of solid metal yet the monster swung it as if it was made of wood even despite its injured arm. The monster didn''t seem to have any technique to it, not like Maxwell had when teaching me to use a sword, but I knew that if I got hit by his weapon there was a decent chance I would die right then and there. Another explosion rocked his body and sent the monster off balance. The sand beneath him had superheated and turned to glass and he stumbled around on the sharp shards, drawing lines of blood through the otherwise white sand. The moment his axe touched the ground I knew I had an opening. I needed to disable his arm, I couldn''t fight him on my own terms as long as he held that axe. I darted in and pierced my claws right into the minotaur''s forearm this time, doing everything I could to sever tendons, tear muscle, and ruin his arm. I tried to break his bones too but they were too strong, my claws scraped across them without any purchase. It bellowed and hit me with a backhanded shove. Despite the unfocused attack, the minotaur''s sheer strength pushed me through the sand and I barely caught myself from falling into the spikes behind me. I scrambled back to my feet where the heavily panting minotaur took heavy steps in my direction trailing streams of blood through the sand. IT IS WEAK. TIME FOR THE KILL. All of my fur puffed up and my drooling mouth opened up. I was salivating. My instincts desperately bid me to tear this monster apart and EAT IT. I darted forward, my clawed hands open. The monster was slower than ever now, it was sluggish compared to me. Its right hand was hanging limply, the large axe had been discarded behind it. Its left fist swung wildly at me but I just ducked under the attack and leaped forward. With a thud, the minotaur was knocked flat on its back with me on top of it. I stabbed my right-hand claws right through its left bicep and pinned the minotaur to the floor. My left hand pinned down its head, AND I ATE. My drooling dagger-like teeth ripped into the monster''s chest. The meat tasted good, very rich and fatty. Like marbled steak. The part of my brain that was still human laughed at the thought as I tore into my rare Black Angus beef. I FOUND THE HEART Ecstasy poured into my veins as chunks of the large tough heart slid down my throat. I paused and shivered in the afterglow of the flavor. My body rippled. I immediately felt stronger as the monster''s meat settled in my stomach. ("Helena! Helena!") I shook my head. I could hear Luna''s voice. I lifted myself off of the corpse and wiped the blood off my muzzle before falling onto my ass. I was panting... tired. My body shifted back to its human form. The blood that had been marking me splashed onto my clothes, I hadn''t thought it through when I allowed myself to shift back right now. I turned to the woman who stood off to the side. Afraid of me... again. ("It''s okay Luna. It''s alright... I''m alright...") Chapter 27

<~> Chapter 27 Luna hesitantly sat next to me as I caught my breath after the fight with the minotaur. I felt a little gross after letting my human clothes get splashed with minotaur blood. I wiped myself with the white sand hoping to pull most of the sticky blood off of me. ("Are you okay?") Luna asked. I paused. I don''t know what I was feeling... embarrassed? I let myself lose control again. It wasn''t as bad this time but it felt dangerous every time I fell into the well of my instincts. I continued to wipe the sand over my bloody clothes. ("I''m okay. I didn''t mean to get all of this blood on me so I''m trying to clean it off.") That wasn''t what she was asking exactly. I knew that. But I didn''t want to face her real question right now. I just wanted to pretend everything was normal. Her hand touched my shoulder and I flinched. I turned to face her and she was... smiling. ("You took a few nasty hits in that fight and then you took a while to respond after you killed it. I was worried something had happened, I''m glad you''re okay.") Was she concerned I was hurt? I thought she was concerned about me losing control again... ("I...") I didn''t want to bring it up. I didn''t want to draw attention to losing control again. ("I''m not hurt anymore. It got some solid hits in but any damage I took was healed up when I... ate it.") ("That''s good. I''m glad you''re not hurt.") She patted my thigh in a spot that didn''t have any blood on it. "I found something!" Maxwell called out from the center of the room. Luna grabbed my hand and helped pull me to my feet. I didn''t need the help but... I appreciated the gesture. My heart clenched as I followed her over, her cute ears twitched, and subtly turned toward Maxwell to see what he was doing. She led me over to the others by the hand where Maxwell was digging through the sand in the center of the arena. He found a chest! Maxwell was practically beaming as he chattered with Piper so quickly I couldn''t pick out any of the words. I could tell he was excited from the tone alone. ("Three chests in one run, this is the most we''ve found in one trip by far,") Luna told me. I nodded in response as Maxwell pulled his short prybar from his pack and wedged it between the lock. With a quick yank, the lock broke off and fell into the sand. He pulled out the remains of the lock and lifted the top. The first thing he pulled out was yet another bag of coins. He passed those to Piper before pulling out a thick leather belt with several hanging straps and pouches. The pouches were empty but something told me that the thing spoke to him. "I''d .... this. Any ....?" Looks like he wanted it, I didn''t need a belt like this so I nodded toward him. When no one looked like they had any issues he smiled and started to transfer some of the stuff from his old belt to his new one. While he did that I peeked over his shoulder and looked inside the box. Not much else. Looks like a few clothes. None of them gave me that weird feeling like Luna''s sash so I didn''t think they were magic, they were just... mundane. Maxwell eventually finished and went back to the contents of the chest. He pulled out some of the clothes and held them up... only to turn bright red. Piper laughed out loud and slapped him on the back. It seems what he pulled out was... silky women''s underwear. They had been so mixed up it was hard to tell what they were until he untangled them and pulled one out. I looked over at Luna who had also gone a little red at the display. I smiled and reached out to take them from him and he happily handed them over to be free of them. At a glance, I knew they would be too small for me but... I held them up to Luna. They''d be perfect for her. Piper started cackling again as Luna snatched them away and stuffed them into her bag with a red face. As much as I''d like to keep teasing her Maxwell had found one more item in the box. It looked like a blindfold. On one side it was padded with silk and on the other it had a flexible but hard flat band. The band was black, or maybe a very dark blue, and in the center was a red stylized depiction of an eye. Maxwell held it to his face and put it on before quickly yanking it off and shaking his head. He looked a little disoriented from the experience and held the blindfold out to me. I furrowed my brows and took it from him. Putting it on was... confusing. I couldn''t figure out what I was ''looking'' at, at first. I turned my head this way and that until I think I figured out what it was. Luna was glowing like a bright spot in front of me and Piper was a slightly dimmer but warm spot on the other side. Maxwell was a dim glow but I could tell it was him, his backpack also glowed, both from the bag itself and from the mix of different monster parts inside of it. I held up my hand in front of my face and it was glowing hot, about the same or more as Luna was. I think this thing lets you see magic. I kept looking around, the walls of the dungeon glowed ever so slightly too but it wasn''t as noticeable as people were, even Maxwell. I pulled it off and handed the blindfold to Luna. ("You should try it too, it''s weird.") She nodded and put it on. After a moment of looking disoriented, she adjusted to the blindfold pretty quickly. Just like me she held up her hand and compared the two of our magical glows. ("Helena, can you shift into your wolf form for me?") The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. I nodded and took a step back before shifting. Even under the blindfold I could see her eyebrows go up in surprise. She pulled the blindfold off and rubbed at her eyes. ("You''re blindingly bright when in that form. Probably twice as bright as you are normally. You wanna look?") I took it back and tried to put it on over my wolf face but I couldn''t get it in place enough to actually see out of it. I shrugged and shifted back to my human form before slipping it on and shifting only my right arm. I squinted at the blinding spot. Luna was right, my wolf form was just drenched in magic compared to everyone else. I couldn''t stand to stare at my hand anymore and pulled it away from my eyes and blinked the spots out of my vision. ("What does that mean? Why am I so bright?") I asked Luna. She shook her head. ("I don''t know. I already suspected your wolf form was a unique application of magic power but I''ve never seen anything like it. I also don''t know how you would gain so much mana from the change. Where does the magic go when you''re in your human form?") I frowned and looked down at the blindfold. It was an interesting curiosity but not something that would be all that helpful. My hearing was so good now that I could navigate this maze with my eyes closed but I didn''t really gain much from doing that. Not right now anyway, maybe if we went back to the misty floor. I held it out to Luna but she shook her head and smiled. ("You keep it for now. I don''t think I would be able to function very well without my sight. It might come in handy if we have issues with another floor because of the glow of your eyes.") ("I suppose... I don''t really have anywhere to put it though...") ("Ah, true. Give me a moment.") She stepped closer to Maxwell and Piper who had been chatting while the two of us experimented with the blindfold. She wrote some stuff in the sand between them and they nodded before taking the blindfold and stuffing it into Piper''s bag. Unlike Maxwell, she didn''t carry a bag that was bigger on the inside but she had less stuff in general and didn''t carry any of the monster parts. While she was doing that I spotted something that I had entirely forgotten about. I stood up and walked over to the giant axe the minotaur was wielding earlier. The thing was big. It was like a huge Viking axe with a blade that curved slightly at the bottom and had a long downward flange, unlike the typical wood-chopping axe. The whole thing was made from a dark looking steel that had a blue-black shimmer. I was able to lift it in my human form but it was too unwieldy to swing around one handed like this. The balance felt too top heavy to control it well. I think I could use it decently with both hands though. I shifted to my wolf form and the axe became much easier to work with. The large axe''s long and thick handle felt comfortable in my right hand and I didn''t have any issue swinging the weapon one handed. I slid over my shield and found that I could use both pretty reliably like this. ("It seems the dungeon continues to favor you,") Piper said. I turned to see her watching me practice with the axe and kite shield. ("I''m not sure if it does. It wasn''t like the minotaur was an easy fight for us either,") I responded Piper nodded. ("Sure, but it was a fight we could handle with a reward you can effectively use. I won''t count on the dungeon favoring us forever but this has been a very lucrative floor, even considering we fought the floor boss. To be honest, a dungeon favoring us sounds much more scary than one ignoring us.") ("Do you think there''s a possibility we could upset the dungeon? Or are you afraid it''s a trap in the first place?") I asked. ("Either are possible and I don''t know enough about dungeons to truly be sure of anything. We should be careful though, The dungeon can be fickle, helpful one moment and vindictive the next.") I nodded and leaned the axe against my shoulder like a big lumberjack. The downside of bringing this weapon along is that I didn''t have any kind of strap or sheathe for it. I would have to carry it the whole way. Better than not having the weapon as an option at all though. While the other girls and I rested Maxwell was doing the grisly task of decapitating the head of the minotaur. Luna told me that the skull and horns were valuable for their magic though the rest of the body was not. Once Maxwell was finished I took the opportunity to eat my fill of the delicious monster before we moved on. I still felt awkward, almost ashamed, when I ate in front of them but the meat was too good to pass up and they didn''t say anything about it. Once the four of us were finished resting and drinking our fill of water we followed Maxwell''s golden mist back into the hall and down a corridor. We still had to take things slow and disable traps along the way but my track record for detecting and disarming the traps before they could trigger had improved a lot. None of the traps were big complicated things or particularly dangerous like a boulder trap but it was nice not having to worry about taking spears to the lung or arrows to the ass. By this point, we were done with this floor. We avoided monsters where we could and took things slowly. We were getting closer to the exit and I was itching to get onto the floor that I had been promised was less of a headache than this one was. The traps weren''t as threatening anymore but there was still this lingering anxiety that if I missed one it would mean one of my friends would get hurt. I also didn''t like the idea of punching another hole in my chest so I was happy to avoid that as well. In a way, I had gotten lucky that my hearing had improved so drastically after eating that bat''s heart. That is what happened, isn''t it? I remember having improved hearing before this but things really changed after eating that thing. Was that what drew me to eating the hearts of monsters? Was I getting stronger and improving my body even more by eating their hearts? I felt a rush of strength after eating the heart of that minotaur and I didn''t have trouble with cold after the first time I fought the frost salamanders. I thought I was gaining more control over my instincts, or at least integrating with them better but I almost lost myself to them again in that last fight. But was that really a bad thing? Maybe I am thinking about this the wrong way, maybe I am fighting against my instincts too hard. Instead of fighting them maybe I should try and ride the wave. Direct them more positively. Like my emotions, like anger. When I decided to train for the triathlon I focused all of the anger and spite I had toward my roommate and used that to prove her wrong and train even harder. I just have to figure out how to do the same thing here. Focus my instincts and use them instead of being lost in them. ("Helena! We found it!") Luna said with excitement. I was pulled out of my thoughts as we walked up to the stairs leading upward. I rested one hand on the wall. I could do this. Just like my anger, I would grow into my instincts and use them, not reject them. I smiled. ("Then what are we waiting for? Let''s go up to the next floor!") Chapter 28

<~> Chapter 28 I squinted as we approached the end of the stairwell. It was bright up here. This was the first time since I''ve fallen into this place that it''s been this bright. Sure the minotaur arena was pretty bright too but not like this. This felt like outside even though I knew it wasn''t. Like the misty floor, the stairs opened up into a forest, but the trees smelled different than on that other floor. Instead of the scent of pine, it was instead the scent of... maple maybe? I couldn''t remember the scent of other trees the same way I did for pine. Pine has a very particular and pleasant scent. These trees just smelled like... nature. The scent of animals also permeated the place. I hoped they would be less fake than the other floor. Despite smelling them I never heard nor saw any actual animals in that misty forest and hills. I squinted as I looked around. Everything was too bright. It was manageable, less annoying than the mist was but it was a tiny bit uncomfortable. It reminded me of the hot cloudless days of summer, yet even brighter. ("Are you okay? The light isn''t bothering you is it?") Luna asked worriedly. I turned to her and tried to smile, my wolf form was less good at that. ("It is bothering me a little but it isn''t so bad. I''ll get used to it.") This place was also easier on my ears. I could hear things moving off in the distance even better than I could on the misty floor now but since we were no longer in an enclosed space the sounds didn''t echo around as much. It wasn''t as if that were uncomfortable on the previous floor but it was less... input to process. I closed my eyes and decided that I probably could still navigate totally blind if I needed to but I still wasn''t as comfortable with that as I was just looking at things normally. I turned back to Luna and noticed her long fox ears were perked and turning to take in the sounds as well. The sight struck me as cute, it reminded me of a cat I used to have. She smiled when she noticed me looking at her. "Helena''s eyes are .... .... .... .... ...." Maxwell said to Piper. I tilted my head. I caught about half of that but I wasn''t sure what they had said about them. Luna noticed me look at him and confusion and patted my shoulder. ("He says that your eyes are still quite bright looking out in the daylight. Or, well, what passes for daylight in the dungeon anyway.") Looking up toward the sky, I could see the false sunlight filtering through the canopy of the trees above. They were tall and somewhat more densely packed than I would expect. It wouldn''t be impossible to walk through them or anything but combined with the brush on the forest floor it would be difficult to travel anywhere in a straight line. There weren''t any obvious trails through the forest, at least not from the stairs we were standing near. ("My eyes still glow in the daylight?") I asked. ("Yes, it''s not as obvious as it is in the dark but your eyes are still noticeably glowing if we look directly at you.") I huffed. ("Well, I had been hoping it might be less pronounced during the day but I suppose I''m not terribly surprised.") ("Why''s that?") she asked. I shook my head. ("I''m worried what others will think of me. I''ve built some trust with the three of you but I''m not convinced everyone will be so... kind. I had hoped it would be less noticeable outside but I suppose I''m not that lucky.") Luna frowned and nodded. Not arguing with my worries. I cleared my throat. ("It doesn''t matter though. What monsters should we be looking out for on this floor? Is there anything especially valuable I should be looking out for, similar to the bat wings?") ("Not really,") she replied. ("Most of the monsters on the floor are plant-type monsters. Some of the plants are useful in alchemy and medicine but none of us know much about which plants or what parts are valuable so this floor is mostly just a quick stop before we move on. It''s notably easier to deal with than the floors above and below it though. You can also hunt game on this floor, though the only reason to do that is to stretch your rations further, or if you want fresh meat and have the time.") I nodded, it probably beat their plain rations. ("What about traps?") I asked. ("No traps, though some of the plant monsters can ambush you. They''re not hard to avoid if you know what to look out for though. Most use things like vines or sticky sap to hold you in place since these plant monsters can''t chase you.") That implied that there were plant monsters that could chase you. ("Maxwell can lead us through the forest though, I''ll ask him to point out signs of the monsters so you know what to avoid stepping on.") ("I would appreciate that. Maybe once I can trust that I won''t get caught by a plant monster I can hunt some game on this floor. Give you guys something to eat that isn''t your bland rations.") Luna''s ears perked up and her eyes widened in surprise. The expression was so adorable I could barely take it. ("Really? I hadn''t considered that but... it would be really nice to eat something more fresh. We never spent the time here before, too busy...") I patted her on the shoulder before she could get caught back up in her thoughts of rushing to cover her debt. No need to go there. ("Sounds like a plan then. Go ahead and ask Maxwell to point things out for me. I''ll make sure we all get a nice fresh meal before we move on from here.") She rushed off to Maxwell and got his attention before scratching words into the dirt. I looked down and noticed that the dirt was less packed than it was in the misty forest, it wouldn''t be hard to scratch out messages like it was there. I smiled, I was happy that Luna would have an easier time communicating. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Maxwell picked a direction and started shoving his way through the brush and tall grass as Luna relayed things he said about the monsters back to me. Apparently, the most obvious things to watch out for on this floor were colors. Reds and purples were bad news, most of the monstrous plants were either carnivorous or would use you as their own fertilizer by killing you on top of themselves. Most of those kinds of plants had lots of either reds or purples. There were a few plant monsters that were primarily green but those were less directly dangerous. They would at most scratch or lightly poison you but the degree of danger was significantly lower, especially for a group with a healer and myself who could regenerate. After digging our way through the woods we eventually came across a deer trail and started following that. Monster and animal trails weren''t always safe to follow in dungeons but on floors like this where all of the monsters were plants, they were one of the safest paths you could take. Everything along the trail had been stomped flat and the only plant monsters we came across were very out of place and distinct from the surroundings. The first monster we came across on the deer trail looked similar to a green flower bud with huge thorns inside of it. It looked like the kind of plant you would see in a cartoon if it didn''t look so realistic. When Maxwell got close enough to poke it with his sword the flower bud opened up and tried to take a bite out of his leg. He was ready for it of course and dodged the attack before stabbing his sword right into the center of where the bulb had opened spraying green... plant juice? blood? all over the place. Once the monster was dead I bent down to sniff at it. My instincts for once were completely silent on this. I didn''t have a voice screaming in the back of my head to eat it or look for its non-existent heart. I suppose I didn''t get much out of the slimes either come to think of it. Did my instincts only demand I eat animals? Maybe only animals with hearts? I wasn''t sure but I was happy I wouldn''t be compelled to eat... this gross thing. As disgusting as it was in retrospect to tear through the chests of animal-like monsters, at least I was eating meat. I could still recognize that as food in a solid way. Being compelled to eat weird flowers or slime cores would just be... gross. Fruits, seeds, and nuts would be okay but those didn''t seem to trigger any of the same instincts in me. "We should camp soon," Maxwell said after we had been walking for hours. I looked up at the treetops. "It''s still... sun." I frowned, sure I hadn''t said that correctly. "Daylight," Piper said while patting me on the shoulder. Maxwell turned to Luna and said a bunch of words that I hadn''t picked up yet. ("Uh... Maxwell wanted me to remind you that time doesn''t move in the same way in the dungeon. It will always be daylight on this floor, just like it was always night on the floor that we found you.") Oh... right. I shook my head and looked at Luna. ("Sorry, I forgot since this floor seems so... normal.") She smiled and gave me a nod. ("It''s true that it can be challenging to keep things straight on floors like this, ones with little danger compared to the others. It''s still important to make sure you have enough rest to continue though. It''s important to pace yourself.") We spent a bit more time wandering and avoiding the obvious monstrous plants before finding a clearing. We killed a few more of those flower bulb monsters before dragging them away. I helped the three of them set up their tents before shifting back to my human form and sitting in the grass. I looked up at the sky. The part of the clearing I was in was shaded and the temperature felt comfortable. The forest wasn''t particularly wet so there wasn''t much humidity, meaning the floor had almost perfect weather. If it wasn''t for the plant bulb monsters it would be easy to mistake this place for a nice park. Luna sat in the grass next to me, maybe a little closer than I was truthfully comfortable with. I felt a bit anxious but I didn''t want to say anything, I liked the idea of her sitting so close to me it just made me... nervous. ("Are you tired yet?") She asked. I looked at her. She was smiling softly and her pretty blue eyes sparkled in the natural light. My eyes wandered up her ears, the reddish fox ears faded to black tips that were a bit harder to see in the darkness of the cave. In the daylight, the colors of her ears were vibrant and contrasted well with her shiny blond hair. A detail that I hadn''t even realized I had missed in the darkness of the other floors. Her eyebrows furrowed. ("Helena?") Oh! She asked me a question! I wiped my face with my hand. ("A little but I could stay up for a while longer. How about you?") She smiled and relaxed. ("I''m not that tired yet. I haven''t used much mana since the fight with the bull-monster so I''m not feeling fatigued. I was hoping... we could take the first watch together and talk for a while. If you want...") I scratched the back of my head and smiled. ("I wouldn''t mind... Do we need a watch on this floor? I thought you said that the plants don''t move.") She touched her lips in thought. ("Most of them don''t but even if none of them did, you always need a watch in case something unexpected happens or another group comes across yours.") ("...another group?") I asked. She tilted her head slightly. ("Uh, yes? Most hunters leave each other alone in the dungeon but that doesn''t mean... unsavory people don''t occasionally think it''s worth stealing from each other. There are probably other people on this floor, it''s a large place but it''s safer than most floors and it has a few sources of food. People who aren''t on... time constraints like us often spend extra time on this floor resting and hunting for food before moving on or going back. This is one of the more popular floors to rest on for a while.") I... hadn''t considered that there might be other people in the dungeon. But now that I thought about it... it made sense. If there weren''t other people in this dungeon then how would I have come across these guys? And while they were concerned about my eyes, they never thought it was strange to come across another person. Somehow I just... didn''t expect it. I nodded. ("Alright. Let''s take first watch together then.") Luna lit up and beamed. ("Great! I''ll go tell Piper and Maxwell then!") She excitedly got to her feet and went over to tell the others. I frowned and looked at the edge of the clearing and into the trees. I suddenly felt less safe in this forest. Chapter 29

<~> Chapter 29 Luna and I spent the next few hours talking while the others slept. We didn''t talk about anything especially notable, we mostly just talked about our likes and dislikes. Unsurprisingly my love for Mexican food didn''t translate well and I have no idea what she meant by her favorite foods either. It sounded like some kind of baked meat pie? I could tell Luna didn''t like talking about her history much and the few times she mentioned her father I got the sense she hated him. Her mother died during childbirth so she was raised by him alone. Maxwell and Piper had been her closest friends growing up and she spent a lot of her time with their family instead. They grew up as friends but were as close as siblings. Their mother became a surrogate mother figure to Luna too and she was there to help her when things started happening around puberty. Unprompted Luna told me that she and Maxwell didn''t have any romantic feelings for each other but he was her best friend. I had been happy to hear that information but I was a bit surprised that she had brought it up unprompted like that. I talked a bit about my past too. I grew up in the city and mainly lived with my mom. She worked a lot though so I was on my own most of the time. My parents were divorced but they stayed friends after so I still got to see my dad a lot. The mere mention of divorce sounded scandalous to Luna so I had to explain that it was really normal where I came from. She accepted that but I could tell that marriage was viewed as much more binding here than it was where I was from. That wasn''t a surprise to me, based on the medieval vibe I got from these guys. I didn''t expect everything to line up one-to-one with Earth''s past but I wouldn''t be surprised by some cultural similarities. I also told her my dad had passed away last year and that the knife he had given me the last time we went camping saved my life. The wound still felt fresh to me so I couldn''t dwell on it for long. When I got to my more recent history I explained that I had been taking a year off of college between my associate''s degree and choosing my bachelor''s field. I hadn''t decided on it yet but I had been thinking about going into the sciences. In the meantime, I had been more focused on training for the triathlon around the retail job I had. Most of this part of the conversation flew over her head but she was impressed that ''I had been working to become a scholar,'' the way she had put it made me laugh. There was a crunch of boots in the grass a little off in the distance that made me perk up my ears. I held up a hand and focused on my hearing. I could hear people coming. Three? No, four. I could hear the telltale sound of clinking from two of them, another wore robes and the last was wearing something more akin to what I was wearing in my human form. ("I can hear people coming this way. Four I think. Two wearing armor like Maxwell, one wearing robes, and a scout,") I told her. She nodded seriously and ran to wake up Piper and Maxwell. I considered taking my wolf form for a moment but decided against it. I think they would be more likely to attack without warning if they saw me like that. I didn''t like the idea of being more vulnerable in my human form but if I didn''t look like a monster they might just pass through. Shifting wouldn''t take too long if they were looking for a fight anyway. I hefted the new axe onto my shoulder and stood there facing the direction they were coming in the open part of the clearing. Their voices hushed to whispers but I could still hear them clearly even if I couldn''t understand them very well. I could pick out a few words here and there but they spoke in an accent that made them even harder to understand than normal. It doesn''t matter, Maxwell would probably do the talking for us. Their scout broke off and began to circle the clearing as Maxwell and Piper came to stand next to me. I spared them a glance and nodded in the direction of the other three. I kept a mental note of the scout though, in case he tried to ambush us or something. Maxwell had gotten fully armored up with his large shield held on one arm. He left his sword sheathed for the moment though. I didn''t have a sheathe for my weapon so I had hoped that leaving the huge thing up on my shoulder would be enough to say that I wasn''t looking for a fight but I would take one. ("Helena, I''ll translate for you,") Luna assured me. ("Just try not to be hostile, Maxwell is going to try and deescalate the situation.") ("Sounds good to me. By the way, the scout is behind us on my left.") ("Understood,") she replied. Maxwell and Piper stood in front of me and Luna stood to my right. I was taller than everyone else by a little so I didn''t have any silly notions that they wouldn''t be able to see my eyes, they would definitely notice. I just hoped that it wouldn''t be a big deal to them. If magic was real then maybe it would just be waved away, these guys haven''t seen my wolf form yet so I hoped any comparisons to an Umber hound would be minimal. The three people finally walked out of the brush and into the clearing after they realized that we had definitely spotted them. They were three men, the armored ones wielded a spear and sword respectively. The last guy wore tattered blue robes that came to his mid-calf, he held a long straight staff and was in his twenties, though he looked a bit sickly. The group was on edge but no one had drawn their weapons yet thankfully. Their eyes were drawn to me, I wasn''t sure if it was my height or my eyes but they looked quite focused on me. ("Maxwell yelled ''state your business'' to them,") Luna translated a moment after Maxwell called out. ("Just passing through, we saw this clearing and hoped it would be a good place to camp.") The mage was the one speaking for them. ("We''re still using this clearing for now. We would appreciate it if you went somewhere else,") Maxwell yelled back. I heard the sound of an arrow being pulled from a quiver and I turned to where the scout was sitting in a tree. I couldn''t see him clearly through the leaves but I could tell that he jumped a little when I looked right at where he was. Maxwell called out to them again and Luna translated. ("I would recommend against doing anything hasty. My friend has good hearing.") If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ("...the one with a spear says... ''Your friend looks like a freak,") Luna hesitantly told me. I turned my head toward the one who said that. ("Why are they acting like this?") I asked her through the rings. ("I''m not sure. Maybe they''re trying to provoke us,") Luna replied. ("Ah, Maxwell replied. ''I''ll kindly ask you to leave and find your own place to camp. This one is taken.") The two wearing armor looked at the one wearing robes, their mage seemed to be their leader. Luna''s ears twitched. ("I can hear them talking, they''re arguing about what to do. You scare the mage but the ones in armor are goading him on.") I nodded and looked back at the guy with the bow. I was most concerned by what he would do now. I didn''t want to be ambushed from behind, even if it was only one bowman. I suddenly heard a hissing noise and looked down to see a blue magic circle starting to charge under our feet. The moment I looked away from their scout he shot an arrow and began to jump from the tree he was in. I shifted the shield to my shoulder and jumped in the way of Luna. To my relief I heard the arrow thunk into my large kite shield, blocking the shot from hitting her. Luna nearly shouted through the rings, ("Get out of the circle!") before diving out herself. The rings must have targeted all of us because Maxwell and Piper dodged out of the circle only moments after her. A pair of fireballs roared over our heads toward the mage who blocked it with a sheet of ice. By then the two armored men had begun to charge at Maxwell and Piper who took up a fighting stance next to each other. These three were matched, I needed to take out the scout before he managed to¡ª Shit! I jumped to the side and collected another arrow with my shield before shifting to my wolf form and dashing toward the scout. I will not allow him to shoot again. I bolted into the brush after him and heard him cry out in alarm when he saw my wolf form heading right for him. He leapt out of the tree and rolled into a tumble before running off into the woods. I grit my teeth, I didn''t want to leave the three of them alone to fight but I couldn''t allow him to find new cover and shoot more arrows. I would have to trust that the three of them are evenly matched with the others. He wouldn''t get away, his scent was clear to me now and his anxiety and fear stood out in the otherwise pleasant smelling forest. The man was fast and was dashing over roots and plants. More than once I had to dodge a monster that he had led me past on my hunt and I had to dodge the whipping vines that tried to catch me as I dashed by. He was slippery but it didn''t take long for me to catch him. I lifted him by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him off the ground. When I turned the man around to face me he actually pissed himself. The acrid scent made my nose wrinkle with disgust. I pulled the bow from him, snapped it in half, and tossed it away before pulling the quiver away from him as well. He didn''t have a sword on him but he did have a belt of knives. I pulled it off of him and tossed the belt over by his broken bow. The man was hyperventilating now but I wasn''t going to kill him. I sighed and threw him over my left shoulder before picking my axe back up by the handle and running back toward the clearing. When I returned the battle was still in full swing. The man with the spear had already been knocked to the ground while Maxwell and Piper worked together on the one with the sword. I could hear the man on the ground still breathing but he seemed unconscious. Luna and the other mage were still fighting but he had an obvious advantage over her. Luna''s spells were slow and powerful but the other mage''s magic was fast and flighty. Each of Luna''s spells broke one of the man''s shields but Luna was getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of small spells she was deflecting with her own floating shields of fire. I threw the scout to the ground and slammed the head of my axe right next to his face before leaning in close. "NO MOVE." The shaking man pissed himself again and nodded fervently. I didn''t leave him with any of his stuff and I didn''t think he would be able to lift my giant axe. I bolted back into the trees and circled the clearing before coming behind the mage to wait for an opening. ("Luna! I''m behind him. Give me an opening and I''ll knock him out!") ("Okay!") she half yelled through the rings. Her voice was panicked but from a distance, her demeanor looked calm. A large ball of fire collected above her head again as she continued to block the man''s quick needle-like bolts of ice. I could hear his teeth grinding as he started to prepare another shield. He kept throwing more magic her way but he had to slow down to prepare his shield to block. The ball of fire got even larger and eventually rocketed toward him. He stopped casting for a moment and rushed to lift up the wall of ice. The huge ball of fire crashed against the shield. It crumbled and exploded into a burst of steam, only barely stopping the fire from getting to him before it dissipated. Just as he was about to begin casting again I leapt in behind him and tackled him into the dirt. I tossed his staff away and gripped his lower jaw shut with one hand while my other grabbed his arms and pinned them behind him. I could see Luna''s relieved face off in the distance as I dragged the man over to her by his arms and head. Glancing over, Maxwell and Piper had finished off the two fighters and Piper was securing the scout who hadn''t moved from where I left him. The fighter with the sword hadn''t been as lucky as the spearman and was dead, though I''m not sure which of my friends had killed him. Maxwell was still currently stripping the knocked-out spearman of his armor and weapons. ("Luna, is this sufficient to stop him from casting?") I asked her. ("Probably not. We''ll have to force his hands still.") Luna pulled off her bag and dug through it until she found some dirty bandages and used them to tie his hands into balls before essentially hog-tying the man. She also gagged him but was nice enough to gag him with clean bandages rather than dirty ones. I dragged the mage over to the other two people. The scout looked like he was going to die of fright still and the recently healed spearman was looking at Piper with seething anger. I dropped the mage near the others and looked over the three as I shifted back to my human form. Well shit. Now what? Chapter 30

<~> Chapter 30 I was watching the prisoners and listening in on the conversation behind me where I could. It was hard for me to follow with my limited vocabulary but I could understand one thing, Piper and Maxwell really weren''t sure what to do. The prisoners were kind of interesting to watch since all of them reacted differently to their capture. The scout was still scared shitless, it was rather obvious from how even now he tried to hide behind his other friends. I kept a watch on his hands though, I didn''t trust someone like him not to slip away when I wasn''t paying close enough attention. The magic-user looked resigned, just laying there in the dirt with a dead look on his face. The spearman had to be gagged, at one point he started yelling at us and that got old pretty fast. "Ummm, .... lady? We''re hungry .... we .... .... to eat?" The scaredy cat spoke. I huffed at them and he quieted down. ("Luna. They''re asking for food I think. Are we going to feed them?") There was a long pause before she responded, ("Maxwell and Piper are debating killing them, they attacked us and we''re too deep in the dungeon to try and take them back with us. There would be a lot of chances for them to stab us in the back or escape while we''re fighting. ...What do you think?") I frowned at the three of them. ("I don''t really like the idea, ideally we would take them to the police or something. Is there no one we could hand them over to?") There was another long pause before she responded again, ("There aren''t anything like city guards or any other authorities to give them to. If we informed the dungeon hunters association they might strip them of their status as hunters and put a bounty on them but they will probably attack someone else and we aren''t obligated to return them alive.") "Please, lady! We .... attacked you .... we .... hungry!" I sighed and turned to look at Maxwell who just shrugged and walked over. "Do you want to hunt .... them?" he asked me. "Hunt for them?" I asked, trying to understand the new word. He nodded. I glanced back at the three and made the scaredy cat jump. ".... is .... to hunt on this floor. I will watch them .... you want to go hunt. .... be ...." I squinted trying to parse his words before replying. "Okay. I''ll go hunt." When I shifted back the scout gave off a shout of alarm causing me to glance at him. This time the other two got a better look at me for the first time and looked rather pale. Ignoring them I turned to Luna. ("I''m going to go hunt some food and bring it back so we don''t have to spend our rations on them at least. We can figure out what to do with them after that.") She came over to me and cupped my large jaw with her hand. ("Be careful. Watch out for dangerous plants. We''ll wait here for you to get back.") I gave her a little lick, making her blush, and started heading to the edge of the clearing. I glanced back at the group of three who looked relieved to be watching me go. I just shook my head and walked into the forest. It was a bit embarrassing to do this in front of others so as soon as I was out of sight I leaned forward and sniffed the ground, trying to pull up the scent of nearby animals. I think I smell something. I haven''t been doing this long enough to recognize the scent yet but I could tell it was an animal at least. I hoped whatever I found wouldn''t be too weird to eat. I wandered through the forest for a while before coming across another trail. Seemed like a deer trail, hopefully whatever scent I was following was a deer. I perked my ears and listened closely as I followed the trail as quietly as I could. After a while, I heard something and followed the sounds and scents to where a pair of deer were grazing. It looked like there was a doe and a buck. I didn''t know if dungeons had natural habitats I needed to worry about but I guess I''ll go after the buck. I stalked closer, as close as I felt like I could get without my eyes giving me away. I waited until the two turned away from me and pounced! I was on top of it before it realized what was happening and crunched down on the back of its neck, killing the buck instantly and making it go limp in my mouth. The doe didn''t hesitate to bolt away but I had already caught my quarry. This guy would be plenty of food for all of us. My dad had cooked me venison steaks once so I was pretty excited to taste it again. Would I prefer it raw now? I wasn''t sure. Spitting the corpse out I picked it up and threw it over my shoulder, careful to avoid the antlers poking me in the side. I started back, happy that I had caught something so quickly. I was a bit worried that I would have to chase the thing through the forest which would be kind of annoying... even if the idea sounded a little fun. I made it back at a decent pace. I returned quite a bit faster than it took me to find the deer since I didn''t spend as much time sniffing around or stalking my way through the brush. When I caught a whiff of blood I started to rush back. The spearman was dead now and Piper was healing up Maxwell. Luna was the first to notice my return and waved me over. I readjusted the deer over my shoulder and made my way back through the clearing. Whatever had happened was already over it seemed. ("What happened?") I asked Luna. I set the deer on the ground and shifted back to my human form. ("Not too long ago that guy suddenly jumped up and tried to take Maxwell''s sword. He had a hidden knife that he used to cut his ropes and then tried to stab Maxwell with it. Maxwell got stabbed in the arm while they were fighting over the sword but he managed to throw the guy off and Piper killed him before he could get back up. Piper said Maxwell''s wound wasn''t serious though, the stab wound was clean so it isn''t too difficult to use her healing magic on him. The other two didn''t move to help him so we''re still in the same position we were in before...") She glanced down at the deer I brought back. ("It looks like you found something though, the kill looks clean. Did you have any trouble finding it?") I shook my head. ("No, and I know what deer smells like now. I got lucky this time but next time I''ll be able to identify it from scent alone.") Looking over at Maxwell and Piper, they looked finished with the healing. Maxwell had taken off his armor and long-sleeved shirt to clean the blood off of his arm. He had a strong-man look to him that spoke to lots of functional muscle rather than that cut overly muscular look. I only looked out of mild curiosity though, I wasn''t really interested in men''s chests. I lifted up the deer again and dragged it over to Maxwell. "Maxwell, can you... cut up... animal?" If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He looked over to the deer and smiled. "It looks good. You want me to butcher the deer?" he asked, emphasizing the words I didn''t know. I nodded. "Yes, please." He glanced at our two prisoners and drew my attention to them. They hadn''t said anything yet but their eyes were glued to the carcass I had brought back. Not feeding them at this point would be cruel. I pointed to them. "Give them meat too." He raised an eyebrow to me. "You ....?" I didn''t quite understand what he asked so I just repeated my request. "Give them meat too. Please?" He sighed and obviously grumbled at the request but he nodded. "Sure. .... need to butcher it." I smiled in satisfaction. The scout guy asked something to Piper who replied to him tersely. I wasn''t sure what he asked about it but it seemed to irritate Piper. I suppose that''s fine, they did try and kill us but... I don''t know... What if they were just so starving that they thought attacking us was their only option? Piper was now searching the second corpse more closely. I saw her rip off something akin to a dog tag from the man''s necklace and stuff it into her pocket. In another situation, I may have walked up to her and asked her about them but she didn''t look very happy right now. Luna tapped my shoulder and got my attention. ("You still want to share the meat you caught with them? After one of them attacked Maxwell while you were gone?") she asked. I turned away from them and focused on Luna. ("The spearman attacked Maxwell and kind of got what he deserved but... the other two didn''t do anything. We shouldn''t punish them and withhold food from them just because that guy went crazy.") Luna''s hand curled around mine making me jump in surprise. She noticed but it didn''t deter her. ("You''re very kind. It''s... a bit surprising you''re taking all of this so well. Most people that would be kind to them would also be the same kind of person who would feel sick after seeing the other''s corpses.") The thought struck me as odd... Am I taking this well? I looked at the two bodies that had been dragged off to the side and put face down in the dirt. This... was the first time I''ve seen human bodies isn''t it... I expected to be the type in the movies who couldn''t stand the sight or vomited afterward or something but they just... didn''t bother me? I frowned as I stared at them. It felt... distant. Like they didn''t matter to me... but then why was I being so nice to our prisoners? ("I... don''t know what''s wrong with me. I don''t like the idea of being especially cruel to these people but... I also don''t care about the two that are dead... I don''t really understand myself...") Luna tightened her grip on my hand. ("That''s okay. Not everything has to make sense. I''ll accept you either way.") I felt my chest tighten when I heard her words in my head. I couldn''t answer her with words so I just squeezed her hand back, careful not to clench too hard. Her promise gave me immense relief, relaxed some tension that I didn''t even know I had. Maybe I was... overreacting, maybe it wasn''t actually a promise... but I believed her. God damn. I was falling for her hard. "Helena." Maxwell''s words made me jump a little and pulled me out of my thoughts. I glanced at Luna and let go of her hand to see what Maxwell wanted. He pointed to a small pile of meat he had separated from the deer carcass. "You want it ....?" I looked down at the uncooked meat and got an idea of what he was asking. Did I want it raw? I picked up a small piece and popped it in my mouth before gagging and spitting it out. Eww. Why was that so disgusting? Maxwell laughed and handed me a waterskin. I took a sip and swished it in my mouth before spitting it out. I frowned and looked down at the animal meat in confusion. I''d been eating tons of things raw lately. Why did this taste so gross? ("Aww! I know what this is!") I turned to Luna, confused what she was talking about. ("It''s not just about the meat! It''s about the magic!") ("What?") I asked. ("It''s not just meat that you''ve been eating! It''s the magic! You''ve been eating monsters and growing stronger from their magic! That makes so much more sense!") I furrowed my brows. ("Then why can''t I eat the slime cores? If it''s just the magic then wouldn''t that work too?") She shook her head. ("No, it''s not just the magic either, it''s both!") I was starting to get a little weirded out by how... animated Luna was acting. It was a little out of character for her. She pointed to the deer meat that had been set aside. ("The reason that tastes bad to you is that the meat isn''t steeped in magic, the reason some of the monsters you''ve been eating taste better than others is because the ones you like the best have a lot of magic in them!") My eyebrows raised in surprise. ("Is... that the reason they taste so good?") ("That must be it!") Luna said excitedly. Chapter 31 ("So what are we going to do about them?") I asked Luna through the rings. She scribbled the words in the dirt for the others to discuss while the four of us ate the grilled venison. Our two prisoners were put off to the side and given some steak of their own. The two were ravenously tearing bites off with hands and teeth, none of us trusted the two enough to hand them forks and knives. Even allowing the mage to unwrap his hands to eat had been a tough sell, Luna had told me the man had begged and promised not to cast any spells before Maxwell gave in. They had been starving, the scout told Piper he hadn''t eaten anything in days. He hadn''t been a skilled enough hunter to find any game and their two fighters had been on the verge of killing him over it. He had already been contemplating running from them but the mage, his friend, had promised to keep them from attacking him. None of us were sure how much of that story was true but their attitude toward the food seemed real enough. Maxwell grumbled something indecipherable to me and Piper let out a sigh in response. Luna frowned but it didn''t seem like she intended to translate that one for me. I hoped that wasn''t a barb aimed at me but I didn''t think it was. Of all of us, Maxwell had been the most pissed off by the situation. I hadn''t fought in the melee, I had only dealt with the scout and the mage from behind so maybe it hadn''t felt like they had actually been trying to kill me the way that it must have felt for everyone else. I still wasn''t happy with the situation though... "Let them go?" I asked the group. That brought a scowl from Maxwell and another sigh from Piper. I was left a little confused by the interaction so I looked at Luna, hoping she would explain what was going on to me. She got the hint and started talking to me through the rings, ("Maxwell wants to kill them. He says that they tried to kill us so it''s only fair. If it hadn''t been for us, they might have killed a different group and stolen their food. Even if all they did was take another group''s food without killing them, that would mean that other group would also have had to find food or die anyway. Attacking other hunters in a dungeon makes them criminals punishable by hanging. You''re on the other end of the debate, you don''t want to kill them and we''ve known that the entire time. Piper and I are somewhere in the middle but we don''t really know how to reconcile this disagreement." I glanced at Maxwell. ("Is he mad at me?") ("No, he''s not mad at you, just really frustrated. He would have been more likely to let them go before the other one attacked him while you were gone.") ("But... didn''t he kill that one? Why would that make him push to kill the other two?") Luna let out a scratchy sigh. ("That''s what he and Piper have been arguing about all this time. Piper has been saying that he shouldn''t feel vindictive toward the ones that didn''t attack him but he''s been digging in his heels. He says he doesn''t trust them not to stab him in the back anymore. The conversation has been exhausting and I''m not even the one arguing with him.") I scratched the back of my head and glanced over at them. We''ve been resting here for hours now but the daylight hasn''t changed at all. Somehow it was a little bit easier to adjust to it being dark the whole time instead of daylight the whole time. I was starting to actually get sleepy now. None of us had gone back to sleep after we were attacked, Piper and Maxwell hadn''t finished getting a shift of rest, and Luna and I haven''t slept at all. Things had been easier when we hadn''t needed to figure out what to do with these guys. When the scout noticed me watching them he flinched a little. He looked around at the others before cautiously calling something out to me. ".... are your .... .... ....?" I frowned and turned to Luna. She frowned too but decided to translate anyway, ("He''s asking why your eyes look like that... he called them scary.") Laughing I turned back to the scout. My amusement seemed to freak him out even more because he shrunk down when I focused my attention back on him. I didn''t have the words to even begin describing why my eyes looked the way they did so I just shrugged at him. I''m not sure if he fully got the message but I didn''t really owe the guy an explanation. Based on her reaction when translating I think Luna found the question to be very rude based on her tone, it was cute seeing her defend me. I patted her on the thigh. ("You don''t need to be offended on my behalf. My eyes are scary. I would know, I had to fight off an umber hound myself.") Luna''s ears went back and she glanced at the others before settling back on me. ("How did you kill it anyway? You never told us and I had been wondering...") ("Oh, uh I just stabbed it in the throat with my knife. I probably would have died from the fight if I didn''t start healing so quickly afterward though.") I grabbed my purse and pulled out the survival knife my dad had given me. ("I used this to stab it in the throat. The whole thing was frantic, I was trying to stab it in the throat when it was on top of me but I was mostly just flailing wildly, trying my best to fight the thing off.") I popped open the snap and slid the knife out of the sheath and handed it to her. ("Careful, it''s sharp.") The knife had unexpectedly gathered the attention of everyone. The six-inch fixed-blade knife was a little large to carry around but I figured it might come in handy if I got stranded hiking somewhere and the knife laws where I lived were pretty lax. It fit in my purse vertically so I usually carried it with me everywhere I went. Since I went hiking all the time, keeping the knife with me seemed practical. Good thing too, it saved my life. ("This is a really well-crafted blade...") Luna pointed out the writing at the base of the blade. ("Is this writing? What does it say?") If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I looked at where she was pointing. ("That''s just the name of the company that creates these knives. Not sure what the numbers mean. Batch number maybe?") She gently ran her thumb along the serrated edge of the blade. ("There''s still some blood on this spot, you should make sure it doesn''t rust.") I nodded as she handed the blade back to me. ("Thanks. My dad gave it to me before he died and... it''s all I have left of home now besides a few other things in my bag.") ".... I see it?" Maxwell asked. "Give back after. Careful." I slid it back into its sheathe and handed him the knife. He slid it out of the sheath and looked at it closely. He said a few words about it that I didn''t recognize but they sounded approving. He flipped the knife over and ran his fingers over the name stamped into the base. Looking up he asked me something. I turned to Luna who translated for him. ("He''s asking if you can read and write this language on the blade.") Looking back at Maxwell I nodded. "I can." I switched back to English, "My native tongue is English, I was going to college so I''ve written a ton of papers you know." His eyebrows rose and it made me smile. Somehow proving that I could do more than speak in cave-man language made me feel better. I honestly was pretty proud of how much I''ve picked up already, it''s kind of amazing how much you can learn when a different language is all you''re hearing all day. I knew he didn''t think I was an idiot but it was nice getting some recognition that I wasn''t just... a beast. Maxwell handed the survival knife back to me and I stored it in my purse. There were only a few things left in my bag, just my broken phone, my knife, my wallet, and a little bit of makeup. Everything else disappeared when I got here. Probably was still on the trail I was running on. I looked back over at our prisoners and frowned. After they had finished eating they basically crashed and were asleep now. Maxwell followed my gaze and stiffened. ("You really don''t think we should kill them?") Piper asked me through the rings. I turned to her and sighed before replying, ("No... but I understand there are risks. If we leave these guys might try and find us again.") I looked over at the scaredy cat. ("Not that I think the scout wants to fight with us anymore... I know that they attacked us but I don''t want to be in the business of killing people who were desperate to survive if I don''t have to. Maybe we should just leave the rest of the deer here and take off while they''re still asleep.") Piper stared at the two of them sleeping in the grass. ("Do you think you''re still good to travel? You and Luna haven''t gotten any sleep yet but if we''re going to leave them here we should do it now. You might need to carry Luna though, she doesn''t look like she''s ready to move.") I turned to look at the fox girl and found her slumped forward with her arms crossed over her knees, passed out. The two of us have been awake for a long time now and we would need to find a different clearing at the very least if we didn''t want to run into these guys again. I yawned at the thought but shook off the sleepiness. ("I''m a little tired but I think I have enough energy to keep moving for a while still, even if I do have to carry her,") I said, giving a nod toward Luna. ("We''ll need to find another clearing far enough away from here that these guys won''t be able to find us though. Do you think that''s likely?") Piper nodded. ("It shouldn''t be too hard. As long as you avoid the plants this forest isn''t that difficult to navigate. We even know the general direction the stairs up are, so we can head a bit out of the way to avoid running into any more people. Luna was already starting to side with you and I think you''ve convinced me. I''ll talk to Maxwell and get him to cave, he doesn''t like to do this kind of dirty work anyway. Three on one, he''ll listen.") I smiled. ("Thanks, Piper.") ("Don''t mention it, but remember, if this comes back to bite us, Maxwell will be insufferable,") she said with a laugh. She pulled out one of the slime cores and started to pull the mana out of it before turning back to Maxwell and starting up another argument. It didn''t take long for Maxwell to cave so we started preparing to leave. Maxwell and I started packing up the tents as quietly as possible while Piper watched the prisoners and Luna got some rest. It didn''t take a ton of time to gather everything together and all that was left was the prisoners. We unlooped some of the cord we had tied them with and left them only a little tied up. We didn''t want them to follow us immediately if they woke up, we wanted them to have to untie each other first. We left them some of the butchered meat nicely wrapped up for them in clean cloth. It would be stupid for all of this to repeat itself just because they got hungry again, better to give them something to tide them over. If they''re smart they''ll spend some time making jerky out of it before heading back to town. Piper explained to me that most hunters knew the basics of making jerky in the wild because having to scavenge for food in a dungeon isn''t too uncommon. It would also slow them down massively if they took the time to do it. When we were finally ready to go we left them with most of the gear their friends were carrying. Maxwell took the spare sword but we left them with the spear. Since I had destroyed the guy''s bow he might need it. I used some of the cord that they had used to tie the third guy up to fashion myself a sling for my axe, it wasn''t very sturdy but I wouldn''t be able to carry it in hand if I was also carrying Luna. It would be awkward if I needed to wield it but for now, it was securely tied to my shield. I shifted to my werewolf form, carefully picked Luna up, and tucked her against my chest. She was still exhausted so she didn''t wake up. It was a bit awkward getting her dead weight into a comfortable position but once I was able to, she was light enough that I would be able to carry her without any trouble. Once she was in a good enough spot I nodded to Maxwell who led the way for us. Before we left I glanced back at the two sleeping men. I hope we made the right choice... I didn''t truly know if letting them off the hook was a good thing or a bad thing but at least I wouldn''t have to watch my friend execute two unarmed men. I turned away and followed Maxwell back into the forest. Chapter 32

<~> Chapter 32 - Luna When I woke up we weren''t in the same clearing. I could tell based on the position of our tents and the direction of the sun on the trees. That wasn''t where my focus was right now though. I was currently trapped! Trapped under a big, intimidating, ball of fluff. I must have fallen asleep and while I was out, Helena must have carried me here and then gone to sleep using me like a stuffed toy. I hugged the large arm that was wrapping around me. Her whole body was curled around mine in a nice comfortable patch of grass in the shade. Her fur was slightly cool to the touch despite the warm body heat she was sharing with me. Had she taken the power of the frost salamanders the same way she had taken her improved hearing from the bats? At the moment I was content not to worry about any of that, I preferred to continue to lie here. Held and protected by the woman I fancied. Unable to help it, I blushed and grinned like a young kit. Helena was a hard person to read. At times she was a fearsome raging beast... and others she was a kind considerate soul. I got the impression that she fancied me back, but it was hard to tell sometimes. I felt as though I made my interest in her clear but even when she reacted to my advances positively, it was never to the extent that I had liked. Her slight aloofness had left me worried, worried that she did not like me as much as I liked her. At least until today! How else was I supposed to interpret this? Waking up with her clutching me like a bride? Our differences in culture may make her hard to read, but I was satisfied with this for now. Even if this isn''t an actual confession, it showed me that my efforts weren''t wasted. Despite my deficiencies, she would be willing to hold me, protect me as I slept, and love me. I am sure of that now. My heart fluttered in my chest and I felt warm inside. I nuzzled my cheek into her fur, hoping to spread my scent onto her. It''s something that''s undetectable to most humans... though perhaps Helena might smell it... but it would tell other demi-humans and beastkin that Helena was mine. ...Even if nothing was official yet. Helena was in a dead sleep, her powerful lungs took in relaxed breaths that shifted her body around me. I could probably slip out if I tried but I didn''t want to. I wanted this to last as long as possible. I idly thought about getting more sleep, lying against her, and drifting back off... But I couldn''t. I was too excited. My heart was beating in my chest and my whole body was blushing as I leaned into her arms and leaned against her chest. I think I would be devastated if she spurned my advances at this point. It was hard... trying to make my feelings known without crossing any ill-defined lines that would upset her. There was also the problem of dominance... I didn''t want to wait any longer for her to chase me but I also don''t know if her culture sees things the same way as mine does. What if she never confesses to me because that''s just now how her culture does things? Will we always be in this state? Held as a bride but not taken as one? Should I make my feelings known without any room for question or would she take that as an insult? Sighing, I squirmed a little in her grasp. I felt like a kit again, still getting used to my cycle and obsessing over boys. Or, well, in my case, girls. There weren''t any women in my old village interested in a female bride and since leaving... there haven''t been many opportunities for romance at all. I reached up and trailed my fingers across the scars on my neck. Nor had I thought anyone would overlook my... circumstances. Yet Helena still looked at me fondly, asked about the scars with curiosity, not disgust. She isn''t like most humans who looked at my ears and tail with wariness and distaste. Well, if she''s even human, that doesn''t seem like a certainty... I looked up at her sleeping wolfish face. Those frightful eyes of hers were closed now... though I admit, even when they were open... I had started to find her look comforting rather than fearsome. I reached up and cupped the side of her face and smoothed the fur there down. Even her more bestial form was starting to have an appeal to it. "Luna..." I froze as Helena spoke... but it seemed she was still sleeping. Dreaming of me. I blushed and gently pulled my hand away, careful not to wake her and spoil this moment that I didn''t want to end. I closed my eyes and tightened my hold around her arm, hugging it to my chest. I thought of her human form, her well-defined body, free from all blemishes. Her skin and hair were like that of a noblewoman but she fought with the ferocity and vigor of a barbarian. There were always interesting contradictions in her. Monstrous, yet kind. Ferocious, yet intelligent. Beautiful, yet rugged. Confident, yet shy. I had never met a more suitable suitor, never met someone who had enthralled me this much. From their jests and pranks, it seemed that even Max and Piper approved of the pairing. My heart swelled. Max and Piper were the only family I had left. I had never known my mother and my father had tried to kill me, the only people in this world I could still call family were those two. The idea that they approved of my match with the woman who set my heart aflame was more important to me than I had expected. ("Luuuuna. I see you squirming over there!") Piper''s voice spoke to me through the rings. I frowned. I didn''t want to get up. ("Shut it, Piper. Let me enjoy myself.") ("Hey! There''s my little spitfire, I haven''t heard you take that tone with me in a long time.") I blushed and looked away. It was true. I''ve felt so indebted to them for so long now that it always felt uncomfortable to talk back to them or give them any lip, even when we were in the city where it was safer to use the rings liberally. I... had really changed since that night, hadn''t I? This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ("Okay, okay,") Piper continued. ("I''ll let you keep cuddling with your lover over there. I''m sure I can handle starting a fire without your help.") ("She''s not my lover yet...") I replied. ("Yet?") Piper asked. I blushed again and buried my face in Helena''s fur. I felt a little guilty leaving Piper to start the fire without me but I couldn''t help myself... Piper''s footsteps trailed away from us and I took a breath. Helena always smelled so nice, like a smoky wood with hints of different spices. It was a complex scent unlike any I had ever smelled before. Despite all the blood, the coppery and iron scent never stuck to her. I wasn''t sure why but it must have something to do with how her magic worked. I''m convinced now that her transformation is some kind of unknown magic. It seems to work innately for her, even unconsciously when she''s knocked out. The times that I''ve seen Helena near death had chilled my heart but watching her shrug off mortal wounds and stand back up had given me strong reassurances that she wouldn''t die so easily. Hunting in the dungeon wasn''t a safe job, not for anyone, but the idea that she would get up from nearly any wound gave me hope that day would never come. I felt guilty that I wouldn''t give her the same assurances but that was the life of delvers like us. Especially ones in so much debt... "Mmm..." Helena rumbled. She tightened her grip around me and nuzzled the top of my head. All I could do was close my eyes and relax into the feeling. With her strength, she could probably break me in half but I trusted her not to hurt me, even in her sleep. Unfortunately, that was not a sign of her sleep deepening but of her slowly coming to, our time lying like this is seemingly coming to an end. The eerie light of her glowing white eyes illuminated the ground in front of us even in the daylight. Her eyes rapidly blinked as they fluttered open and her large clawed hand trailed down the front of my body. I bit my lip and held back a moan, it would be mortifying to make a noise like that now. "Luna?" Helena whispered as she looked down at me. My skin was flushed when I looked back up at her. I could read her expression even on that wolfish face. She looked nearly as embarrassed as I was. Though, both of us knew it would be even more embarrassing to acknowledge how intimate the moment was and so... neither of us did. I got the sense that, in this case, the moment was just as embarrassing for her as it was for me, something that hasn''t been universally true in the time I''ve spent with her. Another difference in culture that I had begun to notice after a while. She slowly unwrapped herself from around me and shifted back to her human form. If I was going to make any progress I couldn''t sit idly on my hands. I wasn''t ready to confess to her yet in her stead but I could at least be even more forward and obvious with my desires. Before she could stand up I came over and sat in her lap and leaned against her chest. This form was much less comfortable to lean against with her armored chest piece in the way but I needed to push harder. I didn''t want to wait much longer. Helena froze, unsure what to do. I pressed even further by wrapping my tail around her waist, closing my eyes, and pretending to rest against her. Inside I was doing anything but resting. My heart was beating without end, my stomach had turned, afraid of rejection. Even the tip of my tail flicked, I was sure that would have given me away if I wasn''t so sure that Helena wasn''t the best at reading the less obvious cues of my tail. As if wrapping my tail around her was anything but the most obvious of clues. I nearly flinched when she wrapped her arms around me and rested her head against my own. One of her strong hands trailed up and down my back as if to comfort me. I nuzzled into her neck. I had gone this far, I would give her every sign I could that I wanted her, needed her. I had to push past our cultural barrier, do everything I could think of to get her to understand, to get her to want me. She cupped the side of my face and tilted it up to look at her. Her glowing white eyes stared into mine and I blushed. The eyes that had once frightened me now gave me comfort. Things would be okay. She would protect me. Love m¡ª All my thoughts died when she pulled me in for a kiss. I moaned and tightened my hug around her. Her tongue pushed into me and I accepted it and pushed my own against hers. Her strong arms pulled me even tighter to her chest and I shivered, I felt taken, I felt hers. We hadn''t traded any words through the rings yet but I knew what this was for her, wherever she had come from, kissing was just as much an act of love for her as it was for me. I could tell from her passion. She didn''t stop, kept kissing me more and more passionately. I felt the warmth of her affection, the passion of her desires matched my own. She broke the kiss and pulled back. Both of us were panting. Her face was red, just as red as I imagined my own was. I smiled up at her, I hoped it was a demure smile, I''d like to at least pretend that I had maintained a bit of modesty despite throwing myself at her. But I didn''t really care. I had gotten what I wanted. The smile she returned was anything but demure, but it was genuine, her smile reached all the way up to those fearsome eyes. I reached up and cupped her cheek in return and pressed my forehead to hers. I was elated. I was in love. Chapter 33

<~> Chapter 33 - Helena I was freaking out. Out of nowhere Luna sat in my lap and was all over me the moment I woke up. I was on cloud nine, I couldn''t help but keep grinning like an idiot. We kissed! It hadn''t been my imagination, she really was interested in me. I was both ecstatic and petrified. My future was so uncertain... I wasn''t convinced I wouldn''t be attacked in the streets... and yet she still thought I was good enough for her... I trailed my fingers up her face and ran my fingers along her beautiful red ears. Her face hadn''t lost its blush since she first sat in my lap but tracing my fingers along her ears brought another shade of scarlet to the front. She was beautiful, her blue eyes sparkled in the shaded sun. The intensity of my stare must have eventually gotten to her because she buried her face into my neck again, rubbing her nose and cheek against me like a cat. The corners of my mouth turned up as I held her to my chest, her playful actions amused me. She leaned back and had a nervous look on her face. She took my hands as she continued to sit on me and stare up into my eyes. ("Helena, does this mean you wish to take me as your bride?") My eyes widened and I froze. BRIDE? What? I sputtered. ("Isn''t this... moving a little fast? I thought we were starting at girlfriends!") Her ears went back and her brows furrowed in confusion. ("Girlfriends... what does that mean? Is that like an engagement?") I felt like I had been punched in the gut. We just kissed! Engagement?! I looked away and searched my thoughts. Was being ''girlfriends'' really that different from being engaged? Not really no, the only difference was the promise of... m-marriage. When I looked back at her she looked anxious along with a complex set of other warring emotions. Nervousness, hope, yearning, anxiety, hurt. I swallowed and gently touched her cheek. Her big blue eyes studied my face, trying to discern thoughts that even I hadn''t settled on yet. I cleared my throat, a fairly useless endeavor considering how we were talking. ("Where... where I come from there''s a stage before engagement. It''s... similar I suppose but without the formal promise that it''ll lead to m-marriage and without the rings to signify it.") Her ears perked up a little. ("So... like a prospective engagement? To see if we''re compatible before making any formal commitments? But... you''re still willing to take me as your bride eventually? If things work out?") Oh geeze. Even this is more than I feel comfortable with but I... guess that''s true. My face felt hot and I nodded. ("If... if things work out, yes.") Her face lit up with happiness and relief before hugging herself against me. My armor made the hug a little uncomfortable but it was hard not to melt into her. I wrapped my arms around her and rested my cheek on her head. Her furry ears tickled my face but I couldn''t bring myself to be bothered by it. I felt like I had just navigated a minefield and came out unscathed. Engagement though? This felt like too much too soon but I didn''t know how to slow things down. It seems the concept of casual dating wasn''t a thing here. I suppose I should count myself lucky that being a lesbian wasn''t an apparent issue. She seemed intent on marriage as if it were an automatic, natural thing. I don''t feel as though she would have spoken this way if there was any issue with women getting married in her culture. That kind of caught me off guard though, it meant I had no frame of reference for what her culture is like. All this time I had assumed that we were in some kind of medieval time period but if women getting married to each other was expected and normal, then how could I hardly make any accurate predictions on how it operated? Luna stood up and pulled me to my feet. I say that, but she mostly just refused to let go of my hand. I grinned as she clung to my arm. This whole time she usually sat a little closer to me than felt appropriate, been a bit more touchy than I would expect, but now I could tell that she had been holding herself back. It seems she''s kind of a clingy person, eager for hugs and affection. That suited me just fine. I pulled her against me as we walked, her long fox tail swished behind us in what I assumed to be cheerfulness. Piper grinned at us when we sat down across from her. Maxwell had a small smile and raised an eyebrow. I blushed and looked down and Luna almost made a show of cuddling into my side even more. "So, .... looks .... you two .... .... together ....?" Piper asked with a wide grin. Luna nodded shyly against me. ".... .... huh? Well, .... .... .... ...." Piper continued talking but I couldn''t understand most of what she said. Whatever it was seemed to make Luna happy though because her long tail curled around me possessively and she leaned into my side. Maxwell smiled and shrugged before saying something as well but it seemed whatever they were talking about wasn''t using any of the concrete practical language I had picked up so far. I assumed Luna was relaying what we had talked about to them. I could have asked Luna or Piper to translate for me but this felt like something I should let them talk about amongst themselves. I was still a little too shocked by the whole engagement business anyway, I wasn''t sure I would be able to handle the subject right now. Maxwell got up and started poking at the pot that had been hung over the fire. They were cooking a stew made from the portion of venison we had taken with us. It smelled good and hearty, and had some vegetables in it too? Piper noticed my interest and spoke to me through the rings. ("While you two were cuddling over there Maxwell scavenged some vegetables from the plants to add to our stew. By the way, congratulations on your prospective engagement. I''m sure it won''t take long for it to become properly engaged based on the way you two are acting.") You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. I blushed and broke eye contact with her. It felt like teasing even though I suspected it wasn''t. She really thought the two of us would work out and get... married. It was kind of a relief the two seemed so supportive of our relationship, even though we hadn''t known each other for long. But, with everything the four of us had been through together already, I felt a stronger connection to the three of them than I had to any of my previous friends. Then there was another thing... I had been thinking about finding a way home. I didn''t have any idea how hard it would be but I suspected it wasn''t going to be easy. If I got married to Luna wouldn''t that... change my plans a little? Would I even be able to go back to my old life, even if I wasn''t partially a monster? I''ve gotten addicted to the thrill of this place, the danger, the excitement. The idea of living a normal life with school and work felt so... boring. Things might feel different if my dad hadn''t died a few years ago... I wasn''t close with my mom and like I said earlier... I felt closer to these three than any of my previous friends really... Did I even want to go back to my old life where my closest friends were the past crushes that rejected me? I felt a little guilty though. It felt... wrong somehow to just give up on my old life and make a new one here. But if I committed to Luna, actually married her... then what reason would I even have to go back? Even the triathlon that I had been so focused on seemed entirely inconsequential now. It felt like something I was only competing in to prove a point that I don''t even care about anymore. That wasn''t the only reason I was doing it, I had actually begun to enjoy all the exercise and effort I was putting into it, but now that the spite for my roommate was gone it was just... something I was doing. This world in front of me, right here, right now, felt way more important to me... Luna''s rubbed my thigh and grabbed my attention. ("Are you okay Helena? You''ve been quiet the last few minutes.") I smiled and hugged her against me. ("I''m okay. Just a lot on my mind and... thinking about the future.") She smiled and then got up to pour two bowls of the stew for us. She handed one of them before sitting down next to me with our hips touching. She took a few bites while watching me attentively. Blushing, I looked down at my food and took a bite. It tasted a lot better than any of the other food I had eaten here so far. Well... as far as cooked food goes. The minotaur and frost salamanders stuck out to me as being some of my favorite foods but that was different. ("Do you like it?") Luna asked. I took another bite and looked over at her. ("I do, the venison is really good in a stew like this.") She rubbed my thigh again with her hand. ("I''m glad. I haven''t seen you eat much cooked food since we''ve met. Until we realized that you were eating the meat raw because of the magic inside I had wondered if you even could eat normal food.") I thought about it a little while poking a piece of meat in my stew. ("Well, it helps that this stew is fresh. It tastes a lot better compared to the rations you''re carrying. And I didn''t want to impose too much when we first met. I figured it would be easier to eat the raw monster meat so I wouldn''t cut into your rations, especially since it tasted better to me anyway.") ("Ah, yeah. The rations aren''t my favorite either and they''ve unfortunately made up most of my diet for the last couple years with all of the delving we''ve been doing for the hunters association. We always try to eat fresh food when we can but floors like this are few and far between.") I took a bite of my food. ("What''s the hunter''s association anyway?") ("Oh! Right! I forgot that you didn''t know you were in a dungeon before... How do I put this? They''re a group that tracks teams that enter the dungeon and taxes you for everything you pull out. The taxes aren''t too bad and they provide some services but they also control everyone who''s allowed to go into the dungeon.") ("Will they have an issue with me trying to walk out of the dungeon? I obviously didn''t go in that way.") She tapped her lips with her spoon. ("Well, they don''t usually check people''s licenses when they''re leaving, except for whoever is processing the tax transaction. As long as we sign you up before going back in, it shouldn''t be a problem. If they ask though, we''ll just have to tell them that we found you in here...") She drifted off for a moment before focusing back on me. ("Uhm, will you... tell me where you come from? You never talk about it other than some vague details. I''ve left it alone so far but if we''re...") Luna blushed, unable to finish the thought. I sighed. ("This place... is different from where I come from. Like a totally different world. No magic, no monsters, no cute girls with pretty fox ears.") She giggled. ("Sounds like this place is a lot better then,") She joked. ("Would you mind... telling me more about your home?") I took a bite of my stew and thought about it. I suppose the only reason I was keeping any of this from them was because I didn''t trust them before and I had already told her a little bit even though I left things vague. ("Sure. But it''ll be a secret. Keep this between the four of us, and tell them that my past should be a secret too. I don''t really know who I can trust.") Then I started to recount the story of how I got here, the mountain, the fight with the umber hound, falling through the darkness, and landing in a cave that I later found to be a dungeon. I told her about being trapped under the wolf''s body and the extreme nausea and pain that had followed soon after. Once I explained how I got there I explained a little about Earth. How fighting with swords, bows, and arrows, was common through our recorded history but that magic, beautiful foxgirls, and monsters like the frost salamanders, slimes, and umber hounds didn''t exist. She seemed disappointed that I knew even less about what had happened to me and my changing body than she did, from the look on her face I think she had assumed I was keeping that part secret too. I spoke a little bit about modern technology and tried to explain how the world works where I came from but this part seemed the most confusing part for her, full of words and jargon she didn''t know. I tried to explain things like cars, TVs, and the internet but after a while she looked a bit skeptical so I changed the subject. We kept talking through our watch and gave Maxwell and Piper another chance to sleep a little. After a while, our conversation turned to lighter topics as we waited for the others to wake up. All the while my pretty fox-eared prospective fianc¨¦ cuddled into my side. Chapter 34

<~> Chapter 34 We were trekking through the forest again after being delayed the last few... days? It was hard to keep track of time in this place. Maxwell has some kind of system for keeping track of time but I''ve never seen him use any kind of timepiece or anything like that. He told me not to worry about the timeline and that he had it covered but it made me nervous. After hearing about the situation they were in, I''ve become more worried about making it back in time for them to make their payment. Especially now that Luna and I were talking about serious topics like engagements and marriage... Once we were back on the move Luna had returned to her normal demeanor in the dungeon, alert and ready to use her magic. Despite how much closer we got, there wasn''t any flirting or distraction while we were moving through the dungeon, even on a relatively safe floor like this one. It was reassuring to know that she was still serious when the time called for it, but it was also surreal to think that we were prospectively engaged now and nothing had changed outside of rest times. I was admittedly more distracted about the situation than she seemed to be. Maxwell held up a hand and the three of us slowed to a stop behind him. The three of us looked around and took in the surroundings while Maxwell examined a spot on the forest floor. He said something quietly to us. ("Alraune,") Luna translated for me. ("It''s a type of plant monster that can be very dangerous. It''s also one of the few monsters on this floor that''s worth going out of our way to hunt though, it has valuable magic materials.") ("Do we have the time to go out of our way for this? I thought Maxwell''s bag was full,") I replied. Luna stepped forward and started writing in the dirt. Maxwell and Piper had a short conversation before telling Luna something to relay to me. ("Maxwell says that we should have the time and the parts are worth the detour. As we keep going up, our opportunities for valuable monster parts will decrease and alraune pearls in particular have really good value for the space they take up according to Maxwell. That being said, we already have a lot of good stuff, we don''t have to take this fight right now. It would be passing up a decent opportunity though,") Luna said. ("Is it up to me?") I asked. Luna shrugged. ("Not entirely, but they want your input as well. Do you have any issues fighting plant monsters? This one will be a fair bit stronger than the others we''ve come across so far.") I felt indecisive. I wasn''t really sure if I was good at fighting them or not. ("I''ll be okay fighting it if you three are. I don''t know anything about this kind of monster so it''s hard for me to judge how effective I''ll be against it so I''ll leave it up to Maxwell if he thinks we can take it,") This felt different from a lot of our other fights, most of the others fights had been something that had attacked us first. The only ones where we went into a fight intentionally had been things we had fought before. Except for those bears-things on the misty floor I suppose, but at least I had some idea of what fighting them would be like. Piper and Maxwell discussed it out loud for a little while longer before they came to a conclusion. ("They said we should attempt it. Alraunes are more mobile than other plant monsters but they can''t chase us if we decide to leave, so it shouldn''t be hard to escape from it if we need to. My fire magic will be good against it as well.") I nodded. ("I trust you three, if you think we can handle it, then we can handle it.") Maxwell led us off the trail and followed these small green and purple sprouts with jagged leaves. The tree cover got thicker in this part of the forest and it started to get darker here. It wasn''t nearly as dark as it had been on the other floors but the difference was noticeable. Large purple and green vines were crawling up the trees in the area, they looked parasitic and seemed to be slowly killing the trees they were attached to. ("Maxwell says that alraunes look like beautiful naked women and use pollen to dull your senses so that it can wrap you up in vines without a struggle and eat you. Since we know what we''re walking into, the pollen will be less effective on us since we''ll know to resist it, but it still may put you off balance. We''ll need to get to the naked body that it uses as a lure and cut it off at the base of the flower. Decapitation or destroying parts of its lure isn''t effective and the alraune doesn''t feel pain through the lure or its vines. It needs to be completely removed to expose the flower. Once the flower is exposed, it''ll raise its bulb out of the ground and more violently attack us with its vines. We need to destroy the bulb to kill it and then we can harvest the pearls.") ("Sounds straightforward,") I replied. Luna nodded and I kept following her from the back. The forest was completely still around us I couldn''t even hear animals or smaller insects in the area anymore. The only sounds were our own crunching through the thick grass here. The air was slightly more humid in this area and it smelled mossy with dead leaves decaying undisturbed. "I see it," Maxwell whispered as he moved to a crouch. I lowered my body as well, my large wolf form was able to get surprisingly close to the ground as I stalked forward with the rest of the group. Ahead of us was somewhat of a clearing. The trees above were bent in an unnatural way to create a soft canopy above that only let a small amount of light filter through but the floor was clear of any roots or tall grass and shrubs. The only things that were in the clearing were vines and a massive flower with a naked woman lying atop it. The ''lure'' looked entirely human, rather than the green plant-woman I had been picturing. The petals of the flower were wide and open and were a dark blood-red color at the base and lightened to a soft pink at the edges. Stolen novel; please report. ("Should we cover our mouths with something before we breathe in the pollen?") I asked. Luna shook her head slightly in front of me. ("No, it won''t matter. The air is full of it, if you can breathe at all, it will affect you.") ("Maxwell and Piper will go first. You''ll go in after them and start fighting once Maxwell attacks. I''ll leave a break in the fire for you when that happens. After that, I''ll stay up here and use a large fire attack that will spread to the other magical plants and keep the smaller vines off of you while you fight the lure. I can''t distinguish between friend and foe with this magic so you need to stay out of its effect. Once the bulb is exposed I''ll switch to shooting it from afar. Sound good?") Luna asked. ("Sure. I''m ready.") Luna tapped Maxwell on the shoulder and he and Piper stood up and started walking into the clearing, feigning being sluggish and tipsy. The beautiful red-headed lure sat up with an arm covering her large breasts and she smiled brightly at them. "Oh! Grand! I''ve been lost in this forest, hoping for someone to come save me!" the false woman cried out in jubilation. My brows furrowed when I realized I could understand her without any issue. The thick parasitic vines in the area began to writhe and move. Luna next to me started to draw in magic, preparing for one of her large area attacks. The vines surrounded Maxwell and Piper who still held their swords loosely drawn at their sides. Maxwell hadn''t yet unslung his shield but one of his thumbs was playing with his strap. I gripped the large axe with my hand, the blade was resting in the soft dirt, my instincts and my mind were in harmony, waiting for my moment to attack. "You''re .... .... ....? I would love .... .... you back up to the .... Did you get .... .... your friends?" Maxwell called out to the lure. The woman slid down from the flower, large vines traveled behind her but she moved as if they weren''t there at all. She slowly sauntered over to the two of them, eyes and convincing smile dancing between the two of them. But the moment the lure was in striking distance my two friends acted in tandem. They dashed to either side of the lure and slashed at the vines sticking out from its back. The softly glowing blade in Maxwell''s hand was sharp and slashed through the vines as if they were air. In an instant the lure froze in place with the same expression on its face as it tumbled to the ground and fell over like a statue. Luna took that moment to release her large fire magic spell. A huge tornado of fire spun around the group, burning the vines and keeping them from getting any closer to the two as they fought the nine large vines that had uncoiled from the back of the lure. I could see the base of the vines where they attached to the pistil of the flower, that was the spot that needed to be cut to expose the lower bulb of the flower. The fire tornado parted and left an opening for me to dash in. I leapt forward through the opening in the curtain of fire that Luna had left for me and rocketed toward the flower. The vines were too focused on my packmates to notice me coming and with my large axe, I hacked through the base of the vines with one violent swing. Several vines snapped and fell to the ground instantly but even with my crushing strength, the vines were too thick to cut all of them in one go. Half of the vines that were left twisted back toward me and I was forced to roll away from the flower and take some distance from it. The remaining vines were undulating around the flower, protecting itself now that it was aware that we were not enthralled by its pollen. The air smelled sweet despite the raging tornado of fire around us, like a flower I couldn''t place. I could feel the subtle dizzyness I was warned about but it wasn''t that strong, no more than if I was buzzed after a single cocktail at the bar. One of the vines shot out at me, trying to shove me into the fire at my back, but Maxwell took the opportunity to slash at the pistil cutting off several more vines at their base, including the one that had attacked me. The nearby vine flopped over halfway into the magical fire and it began to spread up vines back toward the flower despite the vine''s wet and waxy skin. Piper jumped forward and slashed at the dead vine before kicking it away, cutting off the path of the spreading fire toward the flower. If we let the fire spread to the bulb then the whole thing would go up in flames. Maxwell jumped backward away from the flower as the vines redirected themselves and gave me a chance to attack again. Despite still having four vines, the flower seemed poor at multitasking, alternating between the two of us rather than attacking us at once. My large axe bit into the pistil again, cutting off two more vines at the base leaving only two remaining, the ones left were the thickest and hardest to cut. Rather than trying to attack us individually, the remaining two vines whipped around the flower at high speeds, cracking like a whip at times as the vines rapidly changed directions. "Luna!" Maxwell called out and two streaks of fire blasted through the fire tornado and crashed against the whipping vines. After they were hit, the vines stopped protecting their flower and began whipping against the dirt instead to smother the flames. I dashed forward and chopped through the last two vines with one more swing of my axe. The remaining vines of its pistil rolled into the fire and the ground started to shift and rumble. "Helena! Get back!" Maxwell called out. I turned and leapt away just in time for the dirt to explode behind me and pelt rocks and dirt clods across my back. When I spun back to face the monster it was halfway through the process of pulling its giant bulb out of the ground. Dozens of vines as thick as the ones on its pistil were pulling the bulb out of the ground like giant spider legs. Parts of the stamen tipped with puffy fuzz spread more pollen into the air as they scraped across the ground as the giant plant monster pulled itself free. The walls of the bulb were partially transparent and floating inside the fluid inside was the body of a person hanging from a vine that was buried deep in her throat. My eyes widened as I heard the subtle heartbeat of someone being kept alive inside, I could hear it clearly now that the bulb was free of the ground. Unfortunately, they would have to wait a little longer, the next phase of this fight was starting. Chapter 35

<~> Chapter 35 The fiery tornado that had been surrounding us slowed to stop and faded away to reveal a ring of embers and ash that had formed around the alraune. Luna''s controlled magic had kept the thinner vines at bay during the first part of the fight but now that the alraune had pulled its main body from the ground, those smaller vines were gone. Luna was now able to help us with the next phase of the fight against the plant monster that now resembled a giant spider. Fortunately the monster was still immobile and we wouldn''t need to chase it down but unfortunately, it would now be a lot harder to retreat from the dozens of huge vines that were exposed. As if to signal the start of the fight a large spear of fire shot over our heads and crashed into one of the vines and took a large chunk out of it. Unlike the fiery tornado, the flames didn''t spread, they dissipated right after the impact. With that attack the three of us darted toward the nearest vine and began our assault. There were so many vines we would need to thin their number enough to make it to the more vulnerable bulb and hopefully take it out without killing the person suspended inside. When we talked about this, no one had mentioned the possibility of someone being stuck inside there, but none of them had looked surprised either. I leapt over one of the vines that had dragged across the ground and tried to batter me. Each vine was the size of a tree trunk but my wolf form was agile even when lugging around my giant axe. I silently thanked the dungeon for it as I swung at a nearby vine with a two-handed chop that cleaved right through it. A large explosion next to me almost knocked me off my feet from the blast wave but Luna''s attack blew right through a vine that had been about to swing at me. I also silently thanked Luna as I swung at the next one. Maxwell and Piper were doing well. Maxwell in particular was doing fantastic. His magical shining sword sliced through each vine with barely any resistance, the blade had kept a miraculously sharp edge ever since we had found it. In this instance where cutting through the vines was much more important than raw strength, he showed how far apart the two of us were in skill. He was slicing through the vines at a rate more than twice what I was capable of and focused on tumbling out of the way of the vines rather than tanking them as he usually did. Piper was an interesting case. She wasn''t nearly as adept as Maxwell or as agile as I was but she made up for it in raw endurance. She wasn''t a meek healer who stood in the back, no, she slashed through the vines and absorbed nasty hits with her shield, only to heal herself through the pain and keep going. In this fight, she focused on healing herself rather than Maxwell and her determined fighting style was a sight to behold. She was keeping up with me in severed vines because of her risky fighting style but she looked focused and sure of herself throughout the fight, not wavering at all. I took a panting breath as I kept hacking at the vines. There were still tons of them left but the four of us had cut through more than half of them already, giving us some breathing room. Luna simultaneously supported us and thinned out the number from a distance. Her attacks weren''t very rapid but each one was devastating and well aimed. Had we not been interested in collecting the alraune pearls and the person inside, I wouldn''t have been surprised if she could have destroyed the bulb on her own by now. ("Helena, now! There''s a clear path, I''ll support you!") Luna''s words rang clear in my head despite all of the chaos. I dropped the axe behind me and bolted forward on all fours. Explosions rang out around me as I dodged past the attacks that got too close and raced to the bulb. I roared as my claws ripped through the thin walls and spilled a flow of thin sap onto the dirt under my feet. I jumped away, wary of another attack but the vines flailed for a moment before falling limp and hitting the ground. We had killed it. I howled in my excitement of taking down such a foe. Maxwell ran to the bulb and began to firmly pull out the vine that was lodged deep in the unknown woman''s esophagus while Piper prepared to heal her. The act couldn''t have been pleasant because the naked woman woke and began to violently flail in Maxwell''s arms before coughing and sputtering out sap that had gotten into her lungs. The woman had light brown skin and slitted hazel eyes. Like Luna, she had animalistic ears, though hers looked more like a feline''s than a fox''s, and a thin striped tail flicked in agitation under her. Her body overall was well-toned and petite. When she finally stopped coughing her eyes worriedly shot between the four of us and then she screamed. "Behind you!" she yelled. All of us except for Maxwell spun on our heels and looked for the threat behind us but there was nothing there. There was a moment''s pause while the three of us dumbly looked around for anything out of the ordinary but I couldn''t see anything. "Helena, I .... she''s .... .... you," Maxwell said calmly. I relaxed before turning around and squinting at Maxwell, not quite sure what he was saying. ("Maxwell said that he thinks the woman was talking about you, you were behind us,") Luna told me. "Me?" I asked. "What the .... .... talking," the woman gasped out. Ah... right. I shifted back to my human form. "Good?" I asked. Her eyes widened and looked back and forth between us. "What the ....? Why can that umber hound .... .... a woman?" Luna frowned and stepped in front of me defensively. I sighed and turned away to go grab my axe before I forgot it. I glanced back to see that the woman looked a lot calmer now that I had walked away but she was animatedly talking with Piper and Maxwell now. Even the two of them looked somewhat irritated by the situation. I pulled my axe from the dirt. Thankfully it didn''t look damaged after the fight... or even any less sharp really. Stolen story; please report. Luna caught up to me and took my hand. ("Are you okay? That was really rude of her...") I turned to Luna and smiled before squeezing her hand. ("It''s... complicated. It did hurt to realize that she was screaming about me... but I kind of find it hard to blame her. I am a monster after all.") ("No!") Luna looked angry for the first time since I''ve known her. ("You''re not a monster. You may look like one sometimes, but you are not one.") Despite the glare she was giving me it made me smile so much that my cheeks kind of hurt. I didn''t say anything but I pulled her into a hug. I was too tall to rest my head on her shoulder and for a moment I regretted how much height I had gained. "Thank you," I whispered to her. She squeezed around me, hugging me tightly. Her pretty tail swayed back and forth behind her and her ears twitched. When I pulled away her face was flushed and she was having trouble meeting my gaze... Cute. ("What''s wrong?") I asked. She gulped and rubbed her throat a bit before meeting my gaze. ("You... smell nice...") I frowned. ("You can''t mean that...") We had just fought that monster. And just because I was in my wolf form for the fight, didn''t make me any less sweaty right now. Luna blushed and looked away but her flustered face had spread to me. I cleared my throat and looked back over to the woman who was crouching on the ground and covering herself. They were still talking but it seems things have calmed down a bit. ("Piper, is it safe for me to come back over there?") I asked her through the rings. She turned and grinned at me. ("You sure you''re not busy flirting with your fianc¨¦?") I froze and looked at Maxwell and the new person, they weren''t laughing with her so that must not have been what they were talking about. Piper was just giving me shit again. ("I''m... yeah, I''m good,") I replied. Piper laughed much to the new girl''s confusion before she waved me over. ("We''ve explained things a little, should be fine now.") The woman turned to Piper and quickly started asking her something, she didn''t seem to get the reply she wanted because she looked at me rather nervously when I returned. I glanced down at the woman who was covering her naked body with her arms before turning to Piper. "Clothes?" I asked her. "I don''t .... .... clothes for her," Piper replied. "That''s why I didn''t .... clothes for you ...." I snapped my fingers and pointed to Luna''s bag. Luna looked at me in confusion for a moment before she realized what I was talking about. Her shoulders shook as if she giggled. She dug through her back and pulled out... that silky underwear we got from the minotaur''s chest. Piper started cackling just as she had the first time we found them and the new person blushed at the revealing clothing. Being naked must have been a decent motivator for her though because she cautiously took the underwear and turned away from Maxwell before slipping them on. When I caught Maxwell turning away with a blush I suddenly got a huge grin on my face. Wondering what the plan was I bumped Luna''s shoulder. ("So, have they said what''s going on with her?") ("If they had, I didn''t hear it. Let me ask Piper,") she replied. I nodded and glanced at the newcomer. When she met my eyes she hurriedly looked away. It was in the, ''I''m afraid of you'' kind of way rather than the ''I have a crush on you'' kind of way though. It hurt a little whenever people averted their gazes from you when you looked at them. Maybe I had underestimated how scary I was to people who didn''t know me. I mean, sure, those guys in the clearing had been afraid of me too but I had been actively fighting them and trying to intimidate them. Luna turned back to me. ("Looks like she was in here with a man and a woman but she doesn''t remember what happened to them or how she ended up in the alraune bulb. She says things are hazy for her since she came to this floor. Piper told me that didn''t bode well for her friends but there is no way of knowing if they are still alive or not. She doesn''t have her hunting association tags anymore either so even if they had died here there''s no way to tell. She offered to pay us to take her up to the surface and Maxwell''s inclined to agree since she''s unarmed. He hadn''t given her an answer yet though because they still wanted to ask us about it.") I shrugged. ("I don''t mind if she can handle being around me. What about the alraune pearls?") She touched Piper on the shoulder and nodded before gesturing to the empty bulb. Piper said something about the alraune pearls to Maxwell. Whatever he said after that must have been an agreement for the woman to come with us because she suddenly looked relieved. Maxwell stood up and climbed into the remains of the alraune bulb to look for the pearls I guess. I grabbed Luna''s hand and pulled her away with me so we could sit in a soft patch of grass away from the others. Luna smiled up at me before leaning against my shoulder. I slipped my fingers into hers and laced them. Luna''s presence relaxed me, made everything feel okay. I must have had a similar effect on her because she closed her eyes and rested her weight against my side. The two of us sat there for a while, not speaking, just enjoying each other''s silent company. The new woman gave us a few appraising glances and asked Piper a few things but she didn''t approach us. I did want to get to know her a little better, knowing her name at least would be nice, but right now I couldn''t be bothered. Right now, I preferred to rest next to my Luna for a little while after such an exhausting fight. Chapter 36

<~> Chapter 36 I followed at the tail of the group through the forest. Now that we''ve killed the alraune there wasn''t much left worth fighting on this floor so it was just a matter of navigating around the plants that occasionally tried to grab you when you walked by. Our new guest looked a bit uncomfortable walking mostly naked between Piper and Luna and was a little anxious since she didn''t have any of her weapons according to Luna. She had been her party''s rogue and was responsible for finding and disarming traps on the floor we had just come from but without any of her gear, she was looking a bit out of place. I was a little disappointed that I wouldn''t get to see Luna in that silky underwear instead but I would live. The new woman was clearly interested in Maxwell. When we stopped or took breaks she often kept her eyes on him. I was a bit wary of her focused attention on him at first until I realized why she was looking at him so much. My sense of smell had grown considerably since I survived that wolf attack and after smelling it a few times, I was able to recognize the scent of her arousal. It didn''t help she was mostly naked wearing only underwear. It felt a bit awkward once I realized what the scent was but no one else seemed to notice it so I kept the observation to myself. I''m not sure if it would be more embarrassing for her or for myself if I told everyone just how sharp my sense of smell was in this case. ("What''s her name?") I asked Piper through the rings. Piper glanced back at me before answering. ("The catkin? Aria.") ("I know we don''t exactly have spare clothes or equipment for her but what will we do if we come across another chest?") I asked. She shrugged. ("Depends. If the clothes fit her and none of us want them, we can give them to her. Don''t know about weapons though. I think Maxwell is still a bit touchy after fighting with those guys in the clearing, even if this situation is a lot different.") ("You think she would try and backstab us or something?") ("Not sure,") Piper said. ("The dungeon can be a lawless place. If you kill someone and take their stuff most people will just think you died to the monsters. It makes trust a little bit of a luxury. Since we don''t know her very well, we''ll wait. The floors get easier as you head back up so unless something weird happens she shouldn''t need a weapon anyway. Most of the monsters from here on out will be easier to fight than that alraune was.") ("Is she going to be cool with that?") I asked. ("She doesn''t have much choice. Either we let her follow us in her underwear or we leave her behind in her underwear. Giving her a weapon and leaving her behind isn''t much better and it would only make her more likely to kill us in our sleep if she decided to follow after us. This is kind of the best we can do for now. I''ll tell you if something changes though, Maxwell is kind of a softy when it comes to pretty faces in trouble.") I laughed. ("Would that include me?") ("Sure but you only have a pretty face less than half the time. But starting by saving our asses from a goblin horde garners plenty of trust on its own. He''s not one to mess around when someone has clearly staked her claim on you though,") she said nodding to Luna who was too busy scanning the trees to notice we were talking about her. ("I''m not really interested in men anyway,") I told her. ("Hmm? Well, that''s no business of mine as long as you don''t start flirting with me the way you''re flirting with Little Luna. I''m not really into women, just so you know.") ("Noted.") I said with a chuckle. Piper pulled one of the slime cores out of her bag and started pulling the mana from it as we kept walking. It wasn''t exactly a dismissal but it was a signal that we had probably already been using the rings too much for her comfort. It was odd not being able to talk to the new person through the rings but they didn''t have any more rings to share, it seems I got the ''spare'' ring they lend to different party members when they have one. It had gone unsaid but I didn''t think anyone else would be taking this ring from me now. In exchange, I would be committing to helping them pay the rings off but I didn''t mind that. I thumbed the ring on my finger. Especially if we got engaged. ".... stairs are .... ahead," Maxwell said pointing. I smiled in anticipation. While this floor had been mostly peaceful and had good meat, there was a kind of anticipation that hungered inside me when exploring a new floor. I wondered what it would be. I hadn''t asked the others what it was yet but I had been excited for a new floor since this one didn''t have anything to eat. Not that satiated the more animalistic side of me anyway. The catkin asked Maxwell something who responded back to her with a short answer. I didn''t understand enough to figure out what they were talking about. I nudged Luna on the shoulder who turned to me and then back to the others before realizing what I was asking for. ("Oh, the catkin was asking if she would be allowed to wear any of the armor we''ll find on the next floor. Maxwell told her that she could wear whatever she could salvage as long as it didn''t stink,") Luna said. I frowned. ("Why would it stink?") Luna sighed. ("The monsters on the next floor are like, featureless people made out of shadows. They wear old and unmaintained armor and weapons. The issue is that a lot of the equipment can be old and covered in blood which is sometimes really gross. If you know what to look for you can actually make good money on this floor but it''s kind of random whether or not you''ll find anything worthwhile. We were headed down to the goblin floor because we wanted to gain some strength but we were going to try and salvage some things on this floor on the way back to earn coin. I don''t think we really have the room in our bags for that plan anymore but we''ll still keep an eye out for any good weapons and armor.") Maxwell said something to Luna and she turned to me. ("Maxwell is asking if you wanted to do anything else on this floor before we head down.") Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ("Do we still have venison left?") I asked her. She scratched a message in the dirt for him and he nodded. "We still have .... of meat, Helena," he told me. I looked at Luna and repeated the word to her. ("Plenty,") she replied with a smile. I nodded. "Let''s go," I replied to him. He smiled and headed towards the stairs. The catkin looked at Maxwell in disbelief. "You''re .... that umber wolf, .... to speak ....?" she asked. "We are. She learns quickly," he told her. "And she''s not .... ...., she''s ...." I hoped that was a compliment. Either way, the catkin looked dumbfounded by his reply. I wasn''t really sure where all of her disbelief was coming from, she saw me in my human form. Even if my eyes are spooky, that should be enough to know that I''m not a dumb animal. Luna was looking more and more miffed at the woman over time. I wasn''t sure how much of it was her defending me and how much of it was her seeing the catkin as some sort of threat. I kind of got the impression she was acting a little jealous. I wasn''t sure why though, I hadn''t even said anything to Aria directly yet and she was obviously more into Maxwell. That should be pretty obvious even if I couldn''t smell the signals she was giving off. I''ll bring it up to Luna at the next break, it seemed like too distracting a topic to get into on the way. Once all of us seemed ready, Maxwell lifted his shield to his shoulder and started moving up the stairs. Piper went second followed by Aria and Luna. I followed last this time since Maxwell was plenty familiar with this upcoming floor and was comfortable in the lead. Once again, my eyes lit up the tunnel the staircase was in which caused Aria to look back at me every once and a while. She was still getting used to my peculiarities. The first thing I smelled before stepping out on the new floor was blood, iron, and rust. The walls of this place were made of rusted metal, though the walls didn''t quite look man-made, it was odd. It was more like random slabs of metal had fused into the walls without any rhyme or reason and then they all rusted over. There were several spots where blood had been smeared or sprayed on the walls and then left to dry. The floor looked like worn steel but luckily didn''t have the same sharp edges that many of the walls did. ("People call the thirteenth floor the bloody halls,") Luna told me. ("Despite the less than pleasant looks, this floor isn''t as dangerous as the others. The only real hazard other than the shadow enemies is that you can get some diseases and poisons if you''re cut by one of the walls or a rusty weapon. It''s nothing Piper can''t heal but it takes a lot of mana so try to avoid it as best as possible. Other than that it''s just another maze. But, as long as you generally head in the right direction and don''t get turned around, it''s not that easy to get lost compared to some of the other floors.") I nodded. Most of these floors so far were either open like the forest floors or mazes like the trapped floor with the minotaur. The only floor that really broke that pattern was the cavern floor I met them in but even that one had some maze-like elements to it, it had been a hybrid of the two. ("Is Aria going to be okay going barefoot in here?") I asked. She frowned a little. ("That might actually be a bit of an issue.") I looked at her feet. I wasn''t sure if my boots would fit her or not but I wasn''t exactly using them in my wolf form so I could probably stand to lend them to her. Before I could follow that train of thought any farther I heard the sound of rusty metal scraping together far down the hall. Like the trapped floor this one echoed all over the place but it was even worse since most of the metal walls echoed sound a lot more than the stone did. At least in some places. I could tell the pseudo-echolocation I gained had some issues if the walls were too patchy. "Monsters up ahead," I said out loud to the group. "They don''t see us... yet." Maxwell turned to the hallway and lifted his shield. I was told the area around the entrance was usually free of monsters but that didn''t mean they wouldn''t come toward us if they knew we were here. I pointed at the catkin. "Aria has no..." I didn''t know the word so I kinda gestured toward my feet. "not... good?" I asked, struggling with the words. Maxwell''s eyebrows rose in surprise, it seemed he hadn''t thought of that. I nodded. "You and Piper fight? We wait here?" I asked. He glanced at Piper and she nodded back to him. Aria started to argue but a strong word from him made her ears flatten back. Maxwell was in fight mode already, he didn''t want to be challenged right now. I stepped in front of the new girl and Luna facing the monsters and perked my ears as the two of them ran to meet the small group of three. They were slightly outnumbered but with the relatively tight hallways, I wasn''t worried about it with Maxwell''s experience fighting like this. I could almost see the fight as if I had been there. Two swordsmen and a spearman. When Maxwell bashed one with his shield I realized I was hearing the armor and not what was inside of it. The shadows didn''t block sounds as if they were entirely incorporeal so the armor rang like a bell whenever it was smacked around. The fight was a little harder to follow because of that but soon enough Maxwell and Piper had defeated the three armored monsters. Maxwell had gotten a few cuts but Piper was able to heal him up without any trouble it seemed. When the two of them returned, Maxwell was carrying a pair of heavy and only slightly oversized boots for Aria. Despite the awkward fit, the catkin smiled up at Maxwell as she laced up the boots. I got the sense that she was a bit thankful towards me but I wouldn''t count on that making her any less scared of me yet. Still, it''s an improvement. Chapter 37

<~> Chapter 37 We walked through the rusty bloody hallways at a decent pace. It was a relief that the hallways were large enough for me to fight things in my wolf form. As good as I felt I was getting at fighting in my human form, fighting in my wolf form still felt a lot safer. I was in the front of the group this time. Maxwell had decided that since we were fighting in relatively narrow corridors it would be easiest if the two of us took turns fighting in front, trading off who was in front so the other could rest between fights. I gripped the shaft of my axe. This will be the third group of armored shadows that I''ve been able to fight so far. Rather than use the shield I decided to two-hand my axe this time. Hopefully I would get a bit of a feel for it before I trained myself to use it in my human form. I will still have to adjust my swing when fighting in my human form but I''m sure some of the experience with the weapon will transfer over. Using it in just one hand feels completely different by comparison. The shadow soldiers were a group of four, three had swords and shields and the last one had a pike. The three in front stood in formation and protected the pikeman in the back. Their plan was basic but effective, I wouldn''t be able to get the pikeman without getting through their shield wall and I wouldn''t be able to break their shield wall as long as the pikeman was able to harass me off of them. ("Helena, I''ll cast on the one in back, you engage the shield bearers,") Luna told me through the rings. ("Right.") I ran forward and attacked the one on the left with an overhanded strike. The blow buckled the knees of the shadow soldier but the one next to it slashed at me and didn''t allow me to follow up with another attack. Immediately after, I was forced to jump back to dodge the pike that thrust out at me. I was faster than them so I managed to dodge away unscathed. A red circle began to form under them as the temperature in the hallway began to rise, telltale signs of Luna''s magic beginning to charge up. As long as I kept them in place they wouldn''t be able to escape it. Swinging my axe like a baseball bat, I struck the one on the right this time. I wasn''t particularly familiar with this weapon yet but I had played some sports with the neighborhood kids growing up. Nothing I stuck with but enough to get the basics of a solid stance down. My swing was crushing and the faceless soldier that I hit was knocked on its ass, completely breaking their line but the pikeman managed to stab deep into my shoulder before I could follow up on it. I grabbed for the pike but it slid free of my hand before I could yank him back toward me. I stepped back and let my shoulder heal for a moment before taking another swing at them. I would need to be checked out for diseases by Piper after the fight but at the moment the wound didn''t leave any lasting pain so I kept at it. Another slash of my axe scraped against one of their shields and knocked the soldier off balance, but again the pikeman intercepted me before I could capitalize on it. I was mid-swing when the fire magic finally activated under them. A pillar of flame shot to the ceiling and incinerated the pikeman but only left the shield bearers singed. When my axe connected this time, the shadow soldier flew back and landed on its ass again. The flame attack must have left them flatfooted because I was even able to follow that attack up by cutting deep into one of the other soldiers, killing them instantly. I jumped back before the remaining soldier could get another swing in and pounced on it just as its attack swung past me. The soldier left itself over-extended and vulnerable. The first one that I had knocked on its ass scrambled back to its feet and rushed to bash me with its shield but it underestimated just how much more stable on my feet I was than the soldier was. I shoved it back and knocked it over again before finishing it with another overhanded strike that split the shadow soldier''s helm in two. "She fights more like a .... than an Umber Hound," Aria said to someone behind me. When I was sure they were dead I rested my axe on the ground and looked back at them. Piper walked over to me and placed her hand on my arm. I felt the cold wave of her magic pulse through me and she patted me reassuringly. "You''re good. No problems." She had seen me take that stab, seems it wasn''t an issue. Aria touched Maxwell on the arm and pointed to one of the shields on the ground. "Can I take that ....? It''s not a weapon." "Shield," I repeated quietly to myself. It hadn''t been a word I picked up yet. Like many of the words I was learning it felt odd to say. The language was similar to English in a lot of ways but all the words were... off. Like they came up with the same structure and tonal queues on accident but didn''t have any of the same Latin roots that most English words had. The patterns were the same but it sounded like they were talking in English structured gibberish. When I looked at Aria again I laughed. She had managed to find a breastplate that had fit her well enough from the empty piles of armor but she still didn''t have any pants. Meaning she was standing there wearing boots and a chest piece over bare skin while her panties and bare legs were still left exposed. My laugh got Piper laughing too and the poor girl turned away with a blush and a pout. She held the shield she had picked up in front of her to cover what little skin she could with it but that wasn''t helping much. I walked over to Luna who was still picking through the shadow soldier''s leftover armor. ("Find anything interesting?") I asked. She shook her head. ("No, most of this is too rusty to be worth anything. The pike might have been in the best shape of the stuff here, but it got lit on fire and would have been too big to carry with us anyway so that''s not a huge loss.") She looked up at me and gave me an amused grin. ("It seems that poor girl has to go on half naked for a while, none of the clothes here are salvageable.") ("Yeah, that armor probably won''t do her much good with nothing under it and so far all the shadows we''ve fought have been wearing clothes soaked in blood if they had any at all. I''m not sure if we''ll find anything to cover her up here the way things have been going.") ("At least Piper looks amused.") I followed Luna''s gaze as she was unapologetically trying to push the new girl into Maxwell''s lap. ("Does she do this to everyone?") I asked. ("It seems like she was trying to push us together too...") Luna smiled at me with a light blush warming her face. ("Maybe... Piper actually seems to be having a lot more fun lately. Things... weren''t very good before you joined us. She was a lot more grumpy before...") I nodded and patted her on the shoulder. She walked over to the group and signaled to Maxwell that the armor equipment over here wasn''t worth anything. Then Aria asked something that made Luna''s ears go back and instantly the atmosphere changed. The catkin seemed to realize right away that she stepped in something because she immediately started to apologize but whatever she said had pissed Piper off. Maxwell just shook his head and sighed before picking up his shield and waving for us to get back in formation. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Frowning I fell into position behind everyone. ("Luna, what happened?") She glanced back at me with a frown. ("She asked what happened to my throat and if that was why I was mute. It... probably shouldn''t bother me anymore but it does...") She turned to look at Piper who was looking a little bloodthirsty. ("Piper tends to be even more touchy about it than I am though...") she said as she traced her fingers along the scars on her throat. There wasn''t much for me to say about all that so I just squeezed her shoulder gently and kept walking. Despite how angry Piper had looked, once we came across another group of enemies Maxwell and Piper tore through them just as methodically and carefully as always. The berserker fighting style that she showed off during the alraune fight seemed to be something she only pulled out on rare occasions. Even when she was upset, it looked like she respected the danger enough to maintain a cool head at least during fights. That was reassuring. I took another fight after that, we had maintained a pretty fast pace through this floor compared to the other ones so far. We kept trading off after each fight, letting whoever had just fought ''rest'' by not joining in the next one and maintaining a constant pace. The only thing that slowed us down was Aria slowly piecing together a full suit of armor complete with durable clothes that weren''t too covered in blood. While we were picking through the remains of the most recent fight I crouched on the ground next to Luna. ("Why are we going through this floor so much faster than the other ones? We haven''t even stopped to eat yet.") ("It''s bad luck to spend too much time on this floor according to most hunters. Even if you''re attempting to gather items to sell from this floor, most hunters prefer to sleep on one side or the other. There are lots of stories of people getting extremely paranoid or fights breaking out between party members if they spend too much time here all at once. I''ve never felt that way on this floor before though.") ("Is that what happened earlier?") I asked. She blinked in surprise as if she hadn''t realized it. ("You know... now that you mention it... Hold on, let me go talk to Piper really quick.") Then she got up from the armor she was examining and walked over to Piper. I looked around at all of the leftover equipment on the ground. None of it really looked all that useful to me. Even though the axe and shield I used were oversized for my human form, having them available for both of my forms was more useful to me than carrying along multiple spares everywhere. Even the longer weapons like spears and glaives didn''t feel comfortable to me the same way my axe or even my claws did. Click Jumping to my feet, I faced the direction we had come from. I heard something. I stared down the long hallway with my ears perked. I swear I heard something. But the hallway was silent. I''m sure I would have noticed if anything had been following us this closely with how good my hearing has become but... nothing. I willed myself to relax a bit. Is this what Luna meant when she mentioned people became paranoid on this floor? Was I overreacting because I just heard a scary story? I swear I heard something though. "Helena, ready?" Maxwell called out. I stood still, staring down the hallway for a moment longer before turning back around. "Yes, ready!" I took my place at the back of my pack and followed the group while I carefully listened for danger. I had fought the last group so it was Maxwell and Piper''s turn to fight. ("Luna, what did Piper say about the thing you told me?") I asked her. Luna let out a gravelly sigh. ("She didn''t say much about it. She says it''s reasonable to think that the dungeon is making us more irritable but it''s hard to tell this time because the blunt way Aria brought it up would have upset her regardless.") ("Right... of course,") I replied. I thought about mentioning the noise I heard but... would she believe me? Was I just being paranoid? I didn''t want to scare her if I was just hearing things but¡ª Click I spun around and looked behind us causing the entire group to freeze and ready their weapons. We stood there silently for a moment while I looked around but there was nothing. Again, I forced myself to relax my grip on my axe and calm down. "I heard something," I said to the group, still not ready to turn my back on the hallway. "It''s gone now." ("Paranoia?") Luna''s concerned voice asked. ("...I don''t know. I swear I heard something but I don''t know if I can trust it. My hearing is really good now so I should be able to tell if something is following us but I don''t hear anything anymore.") I took a breath and turned around. Everyone looked concerned but they didn''t seem worried about the thing that was following us. They were concerned about me. I shook my head to clear away those thoughts. ("I''m okay for now. Let''s keep going. I don''t hear anything else.") Luna hesitantly nodded before silently communicating with Piper. I was starting to notice when they were doing it. When others were talking about me. I rubbed my snout and tried to banish the intrusive thought away. I glanced behind me one more time at the empty hallway. It felt like I was being hunted and I didn''t like it. The five of us continued on down the long hallway. They felt more oppressive than ever. Chapter 38

<~> Chapter 38 We had been going for another few hours, trading off fights between the two groups while our tag-along held her shield up and Luna took shots when the matchups were too unfavorable. I still occasionally heard that clicking sound but I was still never able to detect anything. I had dealt with everyone''s looks enough times that I had stopped mentioning it to them. I was in the very back of the group at the moment making sure nothing snuck up on us. Even if I wasn''t hearing things, the enemies on this floor were capable of coming from behind us or even in pincering groups, not that it had happened yet. Suddenly the group stopped at an intersection in the hallways. The intersecting hallway wasn''t perfectly perpendicular, it crossed at an odd angle we had seen a few times now. Maxwell had a serious look on his face, turning back and forth, he seemed unsure of where to go. He started quietly talking to Piper but they were going so fast that it was hard for me to keep up and puzzle out what he was saying. Instead I turned to Luna who had a concerned look on her face. ("What''s going on, Luna?") ("Maxwell thinks we may have gotten turned around somehow. They''re arguing over which hallway to take.") I scratched my ear a little before turning back around and watching our back while they figured it out. ("Can''t we use that thing we used when we got lost in that trapped floor with the minotaur?") ("...I think he was saving those for the sixth floor, but I''ll ask.") She walked over to the group and started using the rings with Piper. Piper translated for Maxwell and I assume they started arguing over that too. Click click click click My eyes went wide and I looked around us. Four of them, different directions. We''re at a crossroads, is there more than one? ("Luna, I heard more of those clicks from all around us. Four, one from each direction!") Her eyes widened and she shook Piper''s shoulder, she stopped arguing with her brother and focused on Luna again. "....! What is she ....?" Aria asked. "Helena is hearing .... .... We should be ...." Piper replied to her. I gripped the axe handle. Whatever we did I didn''t want it to be here where it attacked us. I turned and looked at Piper in the eye. ("Piper, please get Maxwell to use the thing. Either the paranoia is really starting to set in or something is hunting us. Either way, we need to get off this floor as soon as possible. Even if we don''t use the thing we should at least get out of this crossroad.") She nodded to me and started intensifying her argument with Maxwell. Right before I was going to try and get more involved Luna suddenly sent a ball of fire down one of the hallways. Her ears were perked, her eyes were wide, and her tail had grown to double the size, all of the hairs on were standing up straight. The only time I had seen something like that before was when the cat I used to have was threatened and scared. ("Helena, I saw something,") she whispered through the rings. ("I''m not sure what it was and it disappeared the moment I cast something. You''re right, something is hunting us.") Click I turned to where the noise came from and I could swear I saw something turn down the corner of the hallway. "It''s coming... nearby," I growled out. The words I knew were failing me but by the looks on my friend''s faces, they were taking me much more seriously now. Maxwell finally relented and slipped his bag off, pulling out a yellow stick. When he broke it in half the golden mist I had seen on the minotaur floor started spreading out of it and started flowing towards... the direction we had come from. We had gotten turned around. We didn''t talk about it, Maxwell just started walking in the direction and I fell in line at the back of the group again. If something was hunting us I wanted to be in the back, I am the hunter, I won''t let it think it''s top of the food chain. I hesitated for a moment before slipping the shield off of my back and gripping the handle in my other hand. I was leaving my back vulnerable but I wanted the versatility to block an attack with it if necessary. The five of us began to walk more quickly now. Aria, the tag-along wasn''t arguing with us, she seemed just as wary as we were in the situation. I don''t know if she had said anything about feeling paranoid too but with our quickly diminishing morale and the fact that our golden guide mist had gone the opposite direction, none of us were feeling jovial right now. We came across a T intersection and the mist abruptly turned left. At the same time, a groaning screech sound echoed all through the halls. Unlike the other noises this one was real. It sounded like metal grinding and scratching against metal. ("It came from behind us, let''s keep going,") I told Luna. She nodded, tapped Maxwell on the shoulder, and did some of those military signals at him. He nodded and started moving with a quick word to the others. I glanced back in the direction we had come from. No other sounds followed the noise but whatever was behind us now was real. All of us were moving fast now, not quite a jog but getting close. It seemed as if this was as fast as we were willing to go without tiring ourselves out before the potential fight. ...For the first time, I noticed that we hadn''t fought anything in a while. That constant trickle of enemies had completely stopped. ("Luna, where are the monsters?") I whispered to her through the rings. ("I noticed that too,") her voice was calm, almost eerily so. It felt like a front though, like she was trying to remain calm for my sake. Suddenly Luna turned and hurled a ball of fire past me. Another loud screeching sound echoed through the halls. When I turned to see what it had been a fire-covered tail or tentacle pulled back around a far-off corner. How far away had it been? If the sound of the fire hitting it was that close then that thing was fucking fast. "I saw it. Tail," I said out loud to the group. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Luna let out a breath, she had been holding it since she had attacked. ("Whatever that was, it was real. I saw it, Piper,") I told her through the rings. ("Okay, I believe you. I need to save my mana from here out.") I nodded. We started moving again. We slowed down a little, with as fast as that thing had been, the walking jog we had been doing was only going to tire us out faster, nothing more. We kept moving without any encounters for a while but the tension was driving us crazy. After walking for another half hour or so, it was Aria who eventually broke the silence. "I want a weapon," she stated firmly. This started a quiet argument but we never stopped moving. Even Aria hadn''t stopped, it was a request that she was willing to argue over but not enough for any of us to risk stopping. The golden mist kept us on the correct path but the turns we were taking had become much more windy than they should have been. I had been told that you would make it out as long as you kept moving in the same general direction but whatever part of the dungeon we were in had turned into a labyrinth, even more winding than the previous floors. I was beginning to believe that the winding halls we were in didn''t make sense. I swore the turns we were taking doubled up on themselves, impossible geometry. And then the golden mist we had been following led us into a large circular room that made the hairs on my neck stand on end. This place felt wrong. The room we walked out in was a twisted version of the room we had fought the minotaur in, the only difference was the fake sky above us was pitch black and the entire floor was made of a solid plane of the worn steel it had always been instead of being ringed with spikes. The walls stuck out like jagged and torn sheets of bent rusty metal. "Give her sword," I said to Maxwell. I did not think we were going to make it to the other side of this room without a fight. He didn''t argue, just handed over the spare sword we had taken from the ones that tried to kill us on the last floor. The woman took the sword and gripped the handle, not drawing it yet but ready for whatever would come. The five of us slowly walked into the center of the room and for the briefest moment, I thought I had been wrong. But no. clickclickclickclickclickclick I turned and faced the sound just in time to see a giant spider with random sharp metal pieces grafted to its exoskeleton crawling through the wall near the ceiling. Blood poured off of it as it came closer, two large X-frames were attached to its back with vivisected bodies strapped to it. It looked like an amalgamation of spider and mechanical monster. The four of us with shields formed a circle around Luna as she immediately began to cast one of her largest fire-circle spells. I could feel the gathering magic rush around us like a warm summer haze. The monster didn''t attack immediately. Click click click click It slowly paced around us sideways on the circular wall, the disgusting bodies continued to pour blood like fountains, already they would have spilled more than would exist in a normal corpse. Click click click click It continued to pace even as the fire spell collected energy. For a heartbeat I thought it would just let the spell kill it but the moment the spell was about to activate the monster disappeared. The fire roared in the room, all around and through us. Luna''s magic was smart enough not to target us but the brief heat made me pant for a moment to equalize the pressure. And then as fast as it came, the fire disappeared. Aria screamed as she was thrown back into Luna. The shield she had been holding was only barely thick enough to stop the spider from piercing it but the attack had thrown her off her feet and knocked her and Luna to the ground behind me. I wasn''t close enough to the spider to react to the attack but luckily Maxwell was. His faintly glowing blue sword slashed through one of the spider''s legs and it fell to the floor. Hot steam poured out of the spider''s leg and Maxwell had only barely managed to duck behind his shield to avoid the scalding heat from burning him. The leg that detached from the spider thunked on the ground and let out a hollow ring but the monster didn''t react to the attack at all. It merely pulled back from us and began to pace us again. Luna helped Aria up and they got back in formation behind me. Being able to trace their steps on the echoey ground gave me a surprisingly good amount of situational awareness as long as I didn''t get overwhelmed by all the stimulation all at once. The spider leapt up suddenly and tried to attack Luna from above. I growled and swung my axe at it. For the briefest moment, my axe found purchase, a gout of steam even poured out of it, but the entire thing turned into a black shadow and disappeared in midair. I looked around wildly just in time to see Luna spin a ring of fire out around her to displace the shadows away from us. It crawled back out of the floor from one of the long shadows the fire behind us cast and then its body suddenly looked tangible again. ("Luna, are you okay?") I asked without taking my eyes off the monster. ("I''m okay,") she replied. ("Aria got hit but Piper was able to heal her. All of us are fine now.") ("Good,") I replied. The spider began to pace around us again. Click click click cli-click One of the spider''s legs was removed and it looked slightly more awkward for it. Each eighth step it briefly stumbled. Weakness! On its eighth step I dashed forward and pummeled it with a two-handed swing. Three legs pierced through my body and boiling steam burned my torso. But I got a damn good hit. I leapt back into formation, shrugging off the pain of the stabs and burns. Even the spots where my flesh tore against the rusty spikes of metal knitted themselves back together with no issue. Unfortunately, the only real feedback we got that I had hurt it at all was the large hole in its belly and the slight daze that it was in for a brief moment before it recovered. The fight wasn''t over yet. Click click click cli-click Chapter 39

<~> Chapter 39 ("Focus on the legs,") Luna told me. Click click click cli-click ("Alright.") Other than its stumbling from its missing leg, the monster barely seemed hurt. At least if we removed some of the legs it would disrupt its mobility. For now the monster continued to circle us and I waited for it''s moment of weakness again. Cli-click I leapt forward and swung my axe at it like a baseball bat. My axe collided with another leg and bent it out of its normal shape, sending steam spraying out in two directions. The monster stumbled and flailed its spiked feet at me but I jumped out of the way and back into formation with my friends. I wasn''t able to take one of its legs off but the hit had still partially crippled the monster. The damaged leg dragged on the ground filling the room with the awful sound of metal grinding against metal but the monster didn''t seem completely unstable yet. Its gait had changed again though, now on every sixth and eighth step it shuffled its legs to compensate for its two damaged ones. On it''s eight step I leapt forward once again but the moment I moved it vanished back into shadows and I heard a cry from behind me. I spun and saw Piper on her back while Maxwell and Aria tried to defend her with their swords and shields. I let out a growl and ran back towards the group but once I got close enough to leap at it the monster scrambled back into the shadows behind it. I gripped the handle of my axe tighter and kept my eyes focused on the monstrosity. The corpses attached to the crosses on its back spilled blood onto the floor as it paced in a circle high up on the wall. ("Is Piper okay?") I asked Luna. ("She''s fine, just a flesh-wound. Nothing she can''t handle,") My fox quickly replied. A deep growl reverberated in my chest, I hadn''t even realized I had been doing it at first. This thing was pissing me off. It''s hit and run tactics were frustrating. It knows to fear me now. It vanished the moment I attacked. How smart was it? It was learning on the fly but how smart was it really? "Maxwell..." I growled out. "Attack after I jump. It runs." "Alright!" he called back to me. Click click cli-click click cli-click NOW I leapt at the wall and as I expected the monster vanished. But this time my friends on the other side had been ready. Maxwell sliced through one of its legs with his silvery blue sword but Aria''s only bounced off the monster''s hard exoskeleton. When the steam shot out of the newly removed leg it was diverted by a dim red barrier Luna must have cast. The leg hit the floor and the hollow ringing sound echoed through the room. The spider seemed off balance now, it stumbled with each step but because of that, it was scurrying around faster. It was using the momentum of its unstable footing to circle around us. It was weak, but it could be trying to trick us again. I didn''t trust it. Luna began to channel another large skill in the room while me and Maxwell waited for it to attack. Last time it had vanished before the spell was cast. It kept scampering around us until right before the spell was cast and it disappeared again. I perked my ears and looked back and forth for a hint of where it was going to attack from but I was still left unprepared. Shadows covered the ground behind me and Luna fell through it. My eyes widened when I spotted Luna''s body fall backwards through the wall above us. Without thinking I leapt into the air to catch her, all of the jumping around I had done when we were hunting goblins helped me judge exactly the amount of power I would need and I timed it perfectly. I wrapped my arms around her and crashed into the wall while cradling her, the sharp and torn edges of the metal wall ripped against my skin as I pushed back against it and I hit the floor so hard my feet stung. Luna was safe though, I caught her and she''s okay. I looked over to the rest of my friends. The spider was flailing on its back. Maxwell had cut two more of its legs off. I looked over just in time to see Piper pull one of the large legs out of Aria''s stomach and begin to heal her. I ran over just as Maxwell finally sliced the last of the spider''s legs off and then took the opportunity to slice its large abdomen open. So much steam spewed out of the spider that I lost sight of him for a moment but when the cloud of vapor faded Maxwell was standing there a little red, but unhurt. ("H-Helena? Can you put me down now?") Luna''s voice asked. My eyes widened and I looked down at a blushing fox girl still cradled in my arms. I had been basically pinning her against my chest this entire time without realizing it. ("Of course!") I hurried to put Luna back on the ground and look her over. She didn''t seem hurt anywhere, not even a scratch. ("I''m fine, don''t worry! But uh, thanks for catching me...") She was smiling, but not making eye contact. I could see the hint of pink on her face, she didn''t seem to be mad about me squishing her against my chest the way I did. The shy but happy fox girl looked so beautiful to me in that moment. My entire being had been filled with anxiety when I saw her fall and all of that fell away as I looked down at her now. Before I could stop myself I shifted back down to my human form and pulled her into a deep kiss. At first she jerked in surprise, but only a moment later she wrapped her arms around me and leaned into it. I was a good head taller than her so the curves of our bodies locked together like puzzle pieces as she leaned into me. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. I was panting when I finally broke off the kiss and looked down into her eyes. She looked just as breathless. Her wide blue eyes looked up into mine, the glow of my eyes made them light up and shine back at me. She bit her lip and blushed as we stared at each other but she didn''t break eye contact. The moment felt like it went on for ages. Emotions welled up from deep inside me. Love, desire, passion, fear, anxiety, my bestial half even contributed some of its own, possessiveness, loyalty, and... desire again. I finally broke eye contact and rested my forehead against hers. The fear of losing her came to the forefront of my mind but her presence in front of me allowed me to let out a sigh of relief. She pulled away from me but she was smiling even as she averted her eyes. She was happy but shy as always. She glanced back at me again before walking toward the others. I followed her over to see how they were faring. Aria had been stabbed through the gut but she was looking fine now. She had taken off her breast plate and was lifting up her ragged blood covered shirt to examine the circular scar slightly to the left and below her bellybutton. It wasn''t very difficult to piece together what had happened. Before Luna''s spell could activate, the monster had used its ability to move through shadows and open up a hole up in the wall where it dropped Luna. At the same time, it crawled through the same spot itself to stab Aria from behind through the gap in her poorly fitting armor. Maxwell, like me, had been waiting for it to appear and was able to cut off the leg that had stabbed through Aria before knocking it on its back and finishing the job. Meanwhile, Piper pulled out the rod and healed her wound. Despite the victory Piper didn''t look too happy. I stepped closer and prodded her shoulder. When I got her attention I used the rings to talk to her, ("Hey, what''s wrong? We won.") She frowned and looked away from me. ("I fucked up again, I didn''t heal her carefully enough and left a scar on her.") I raised an eyebrow. ("Is anything wrong with her? Other than a scar?") She turned back to me with a look of confusion. ("No! I made sure to heal her completely!") ("Then what''s the problem?") I asked with a shrug. ("You saved her life, any normal person getting run through would die.") I tried not to think about the number of jagged spider legs that had run me through earlier this fight. Her brow furrowed and she looked away. ("After what happened to Luna I vowed never to let that happen again...") I sighed. ("Did you ask Aria what she thinks? Is she even unhappy about the scar?") The look Piper gave me told me that she had not. I nodded over to Aria who was happily talking with Maxwell while he poked around the monster''s corpse. ("Go talk to her, see what she says.") She stared at me for a moment longer before sighing. "Fine." Aria looked over at us in confusion when Piper suddenly said that out loud. When Maxwell noticed Piper pulling Aria away he waved me over. Curiously I came over and looked down at the monster. "What?" I asked. "Help me .... it ...." he said pointing. I cocked my head to the side. This time he pantomimed what he wanted me to do. "Flip it over?" I asked while pantomiming with him. He smiled and nodded. I shifted back to my werewolf form and grinned while lifting the big spider monster up. Well, I was grinning until the awful noises of metal on metal scraping against each other forced me to pin my ears back. Once it reached its apex Maxwell helped me guide it back to the ground. The first thing I saw when I stared at the spider''s back were the two large X crosses. My eyes widened when I saw the faces of the corpses. It was the men we had left alive on the previous floor. Maxwell gawked at it too. I looked around the room at all the blood that had been spread across the floor during the fight. More blood than could normally come from just two human bodies. Why? Why was it these two? Are they even real? Is this place just continuing to fuck with us or did they come here behind us and die to this thing? Maxwell began to remove the corpses from the frames but it quickly became apparent that the bodies were partially fused with the wood down to their bones. The whole thing was bizarre and grotesque. Piper came over to inspect the bodies with the stone face of an experienced doctor. She sent a pulse of mana through one of the bodies and shook her head. This started a conversation between the two of them but I just stepped away. I didn''t even want to know what the two of them were talking about. I looked over at Aria who also didn''t seem to be that interested in the monster''s body. She was standing over by Luna but the two of them obviously weren''t talking. Without the rings Luna couldn''t speak so they were just sharing quiet company with each other. I walked over and pulled Luna into a hug. She nuzzled into the smoky fur of my werewolf form and I gently squeezed her against me. Even for me, the sight of the two bodies shook me a little. I had spoken to them not that long ago. Well... sorta spoke to them. I convinced my friends to let them live only for them to be murdered and fused to a spider monster? I hate this place, this floor is horrible. ("Luna. I want to leave this place,") I whispered through the rings. She nodded and walked over to the others. She said something to Piper through the rings who quickly seemed to agree with her. Maxwell shook his head grimly and stepped away from the monster. The entire spider body, corpses and all, lit up into a great conflagration. All of us watched as it turned to ash and a remnant metal frame as the smoke rose into the air through the dark grate in the ceiling. The yellow stick that had been leading our way had been forgotten in the corner but once Maxwell picked it up, it began to point the way toward the exit again. With only a few more shared words the five of us grimly walked down the path the yellow stick led us. Even though the monster that had been hunting us was gone, no other shadows soldiers appeared to block our way and soon we could see the stairs up off in the distance. I let out a small sigh of relief as the five of us got closer to getting off of this awful floor. No other floors had affected me like this one had and I was ready for a breather. Before I began to follow my friends up the stairs a thought crossed my mind... Didn''t I see a tail on the monster that had been hunting us? No part of that spider resembled the thing I had seen quickly turning the corner. I took one last look behind me at the dim bloody hallways before shaking my head, turning, and following my friends up the stairs. Chapter 40

<~> Chapter 40 The change in atmosphere was immediately noticeable once we stepped out onto the new floor. For one thing, the view was absolutely beautiful. The stairs led into a large open cavern with giant glowing rocks growing out of the walls. The floor had pools of water all over the ground that reflected the light coming off the shimmering crystals giving the entire place a magical glow. Luna turned back to me and smiled. ("Beautiful, isn''t it?") I smiled back at her. ("It is.") ".... everyone, let''s rest for .... ...," Maxwell said. Like the other underground floor I woke up on, the stone was hard enough that it made more sense to hang the tents from poles rather than attempt to stake them into the ground. It was a bit more finicky to set up but it wasn''t very difficult to stack rocks on what was essentially a tarp over a wooden frame. Aria seems to have begun to fit right into the group, she immediately began to help set up camp and I noticed that Maxwell never asked for her to return the sword she had been given. After the harrowing fight with that spider monster, it didn''t seem like Maxwell was very distrustful of her anymore. I wasn''t really sure what to think about her since unlike the others I wasn''t able to talk with her much and she didn''t seem keen on interacting with me the same way Maxwell tried to. I could tell that she was still scared of me. I shifted back to my human form before walking over and crouching down next to Luna who was setting up rocks and wood for a fire pit. ("Hey Luna, what kinds of monsters do we need to worry about on this floor?") I asked. She smiled at me before turning back to continue her work. ("This floor mainly has these large monsters on four legs called barletts. They are strong and have thick skin but they''re pretty slow and easy for us to deal with. This floor is pretty good for collecting minerals and mining so if you''re able to fight them off you can make decent money protecting mining groups. We''ve done a little bit of that work but our team has always been so unbalanced that the only time we were able to get jobs like that was to sign on with a different group temporarily. We were always good enough to fill in but not well-liked enough to get a permanent spot. We had gone down to the sixteenth floor so that we could grow stronger fighting goblins and hopefully attract better party members. After this trip, my cut should be big enough that I can get training in silent casting which will make me a lot more similar to a mage who can speak incantations properly. For obvious reasons, I''ve been restricted to spells that I could cast without using incantations to focus my magic. It won''t make me stronger exactly but it''ll make me a lot more versatile and more similar to a normal mage of my strength.") ("Why would goblins make you stronger? They didn''t seem that hard to fight,") I asked. Luna tapped her lip with a finger in thought for a moment. ("Supposedly, everything you find in dungeons is high in ambient mana. The stronger the monster the more mana. When you kill a dungeon monster you absorb part of their mana and grow stronger for it. Every monster we''ve killed so far has made us stronger, you probably even more so since you''re able to ingest the dense mana of monsters directly. Goblins are kind of interesting to train on because for some reason the mana they release is more compatible with humans and beastkin. They''re dangerous to fight in large groups, especially for women, but people who train on goblins grow at a much faster rate than other monsters. That was why we had made a point to kill every goblin we could find, aside from them being horrible creatures that do unspeakable things to the women they capture, each kill allowed us to grow that much stronger.") The mana in the air swelled around the firepit and suddenly it burst into a roaring fire before settling down into a more controlled flame. She then started to pull out some more meat and vegetables we still had to make another stew for everyone. This was the first time I had seen her do any cooking, usually it had been Maxwell or Piper cooking. When she noticed me watching she blushed a little. ("I''m not the best cook but it''s my turn this time, to make up for not helping with the fire last time.") I tilted my head, I didn''t recall any time that she hadn''t started the fire but it didn''t really matter. ("Do you like to cook?") I asked. She giggled. ("I hate it actually. It may be a bit stereotypical of a fire mage but I have a bad tendency to burn things a lot of the time.") I laughed with her. ("Well, if it makes you feel better, I love to cook. Though maybe you wouldn''t think so with how often I''m eating things raw.") She laughed again but had a pained look in her eyes as she rubbed her throat. I frowned. ("Are you okay?") She took a sip of her canteen and took a scratchy breath. ("Yeah... When I laugh too much my throat starts to hurt. Or, well, any sounds I make really... I don''t really like to tell people because they sometimes start to act differently around me. They stop telling jokes and stop trying to make me laugh because they don''t want to give me a sore throat.") She turned and looked at me with a sad look on her face. ("Don''t... do that too, please. I''ve been having a lot of fun around you because you don''t treat me weird or like I''m not there at all.") I smiled and pulled her into a side hug. ("I''ll never stop making you laugh, promise.") She nuzzled into my neck so I kissed her on the head. I sniffed the air. ("You might want to add some water to that stew before you burn it though...") She jerked away and quickly added some more water from her canteen. ("Oh shoot, that was close... I told you I''m a horrible cook...") A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Patting her on the shoulder, I pulled the canteen out of her hands before she thinned it out too much instead. ("Don''t worry, when we have the time I''ll show you a thing or two. Maybe you''ll enjoy cooking more if we do it together.") She smiled back at me. ("Maybe... t-thanks...") ("No problem.") I looked over at the puddles of water all over the place. ("Is that water drinkable? Assuming you boil it first of course.") ("Technically yes, but it doesn''t taste very good. The water mixes with the soil too much so even if you sift it out and boil it, it still tastes kind of weird. I know people drink it sometimes but it''s usually only if they''re totally out of water or something. Usually people can wait until they make it to the forest floor and there''s water on a few of the upper levels of the dungeon that tastes better too.") Maxwell, Piper, and Aria dragged over some larger rocks to sit on while we were finishing up the stew so I sat back and let Luna prepare everyone''s bowls. Piper laughed and said something to Luna that made her blush. A lot of times I would let these things pass but I decided that I was too curious this time. ("What did she ask you?") She looked at me with a pout and a still slightly red face. ("She said... she was glad I didn''t burn it this time...") I couldn''t stop myself from laughing which got a giggle out of her too. I noticed Aria was staring at me so I turned to look at her. She jumped once she realized I was focused on her. "What?" I asked. "Oh, I .... .... looking .... your eyes, They look .... .... on this floor." she hesitantly replied. ("She said your eyes look really bright here,") Luna helpfully told me. Luna must have noticed the slight confusion on my face. I looked up and saw the subtle reflection on the walls from my eyes. It had gotten to the point that I had mostly forgotten about how my eyes look. Even the slight glints and reflections that I saw everywhere had stopped looking weird to me. I shrugged back at her. "My eyes... like this now." I saw her brow knit in confusion but she just nodded to me in response. I didn''t really think I was getting any closer to her but a lot of that came down to the language barrier we had. Luna didn''t have any more rings for us and I doubted Maxwell was going to give his up even if he rarely used it. We trust Aria a bit more now that she fought with us and didn''t take the opportunity to stab us in the back but that didn''t mean Maxwell would lend her something so obviously valuable to all of us. I''m sure the only reason they lent this one to me was because they had a spare and I didn''t speak their language at all. At this point the simple ring was among my most valuable possessions, it was the only way I could talk to Luna and without it, she would be totally isolated again. ("Luna...") I hesitated. ("I hope this isn''t insensitive to ask, but is it possible for someone to fix your throat? Make it not hurt you anymore?") She leaned against me and showed a complicated expression on her face. ("It is possible to fix with healing magic. A strong healer could cut out the scar tissue and heal it back up properly, but that would be painful and potentially dangerous. The other way would be if an even more powerful healer regenerated the flesh and corrected the improper healing with stronger healing magic. Both are expensive and the second one much more expensive than the first. It''s too expensive to even consider unless all of us somehow become really powerful and pool our money to save for it. It would also have to be after we finish paying off the rings too of course. I hope... it doesn''t bug you too much that I can''t speak normally...") I wrapped my arm around her and squeezed. ("Of course not. I don''t know a lot about this world so I just want to understand better. Especially... if we get married...") Luna''s complicated expression melted into a smile and her tail swished behind us happily. ("Would you want to fix it? If the money wasn''t an issue?") I asked. She traced her fingers across the scars on her throat. ("I don''t know. The first option sounds scary, I don''t know if I''d want to do that. As for the other option... I guess it would depend on where we were at in life. I wouldn''t want to give up anything important for it. And healers of that strength can be difficult to find so I don''t think I''d want to drop everything just to go looking for one... but even if I still didn''t have a voice... it would be nice if it at least didn''t hurt to laugh anymore... So I suppose yes, if a good opportunity presented itself I would take it.") I laced my fingers with hers and kissed her on the top of her head again. The others were chatting and being merry while the two of us were in our own little world. My signs of affection put Luna at ease and she relaxed even more against me. After a few minutes of silence, Luna smiled. ("At the same time... I kind of like this too... It''s nice talking with you like this, speaking heart to heart like this. It''s selfish, but I get to see a side of you that the others don''t get to see as often. I get to help you when you need help translating... It makes me feel special.") I squeezed her again. ("You don''t need to translate for me to be special. But I agree, being able to talk with you like this all the time... I like it a lot too.") ("Then... even if I do have my throat fixed someday, let''s always keep these rings.") ("Agreed,") I replied. Then, to punctuate the promise, I tilted her head up and gave her a kiss. Chapter 41

<~> Chapter 41 The five of us were behind a rock looking at one of those Barletts Luna had told me about... yesterday? Well, before we rotated through our turns sleeping anyway. It looked like a wide and kinda flat armadillo. The thing was huge though, the size of a large bull and a half. It would be a bit more intimidating if I hadn''t gotten so huge myself but I was a little worried for my friends. Luna had sworn up and down that Maxwell could hold that thing back with his shield but their difference in size made me question that a little. It had an angled head that ended in a rounded beak that used it to eat rocks... The thing was walking around just eating the glowing rocks... To my shame, I was drooling a little watching it. I haven''t eaten any raw meat since the Minotaur and while I hadn''t been starving or anything, the idea of sinking my teeth into one of these monsters was a lot more appealing than I''d normally like to admit. Just the thought of it had me automatically licking my chops without meaning to. ("How dangerous is this thing supposed to be?") I asked Luna. ("To you? Not very I''d bet. To us, moderately dangerous just from its size alone. The thing can trample us if we get caught under it, but it''s pretty slow, so as long as nothing unexpected happens we shouldn''t have any trouble killing it. The three of us have killed those both alone and with other teams before. They''re not too difficult to fight.") ("Knock on wood,") I said. She turned to me and tilted her head. Cute. ("Why?") she asked. ("Hmm... It''s bad luck to talk about something bad happening without knocking on wood... It''s a silly superstition where I come from,") I told her. She smiled and lightly rapped her knuckles against my shield. I laughed and ruffled her hair but it seemed our little exchange irritated Maxwell based on the look he was giving us. I shrugged and crouched down a little next to him. "Can I eat it?" I asked. Maxwell sighed and Aria gave me a horrified look. "Yes. It has a .... ....," he told me. I turned and looked at Luna. ("He said, ''It has a soft belly.'' Don''t try to go through the shell on the top, flip it over if you want to eat it.") "Soft belly," I repeated quietly to myself. ("How should we engage it?") I asked Luna. ("Well, let Maxwell attack it first and block it with his shield. If it starts to charge, you should dodge, it can hit hard once it has momentum going but it''s slow enough that dodging shouldn''t be difficult for any of us. Its weak spots are the joints under its shell on its limbs and above its head, be careful of the beak if you attack from the front though,") she explained. When I nodded back to her she leaned forward and tapped Maxwell on the shoulder to give him a signal. ("Just telling him we''re ready,") Luna said. I nodded and crouched on all fours, ready to follow him in. When it got close enough Maxwell jumped out and rammed the Barlett with his shield and sent it stumbling back. Piper, Aria, and I jumped out to circle it. The thing squawked at us and began to run forward, but before it could take more than three steps, Maxwell rammed into its head with his shield again. This hit seemed a bit more substantial because it stumbled back and swayed for a moment. Now! I jumped forward and stabbed my claws into the joint above one of its rear legs and tore through as much of it as I could before jumping back. Piper and Aria had done the same and with only one good leg left, it fell down onto its stomach. Maxwell bashed its head to the side with his shield again before stabbing it through the top of the neck with his sword. The sharpness of his sword must have surprised him because he accidentally decapitated the monster when trying to pull his sword back. The large head anti-climactically plopped on the ground in front of us. My mouth was really watering now that the scent of blood was filling my nostrils. Maxwell looked around at all of us for a moment before flicking the blood off his sword and sheathing it again. I looked at him with puppy-dog eyes and he laughed the moment he noticed the look I was giving him. He waved Aria back and then gestured at me to go ahead. I licked my chops again and flipped the armadillo thing onto its back. The skin on the bottom was smooth and soft but it smelled like wet dirt from being dragged along the ground all the time. I used my claws to slice a large gash down the middle and carefully pulled its skin apart to avoid having to bite into the nasty flesh on the bottom. The moment struck me as odd because I was at the exact intersection of my two opposing instincts, one to be slow and methodical and the other to tear into it and eat but they both agreed that the flesh on the bottom was worth avoiding. Once I opened a large enough hole I leaned forward and started biting chunks of it off. It tasted decent, About as good as the bats but at least I didn''t need to worry about guano. Not nearly as good as my favorites, Minotaur and Frost Salamanders. But the meat hit the spot all the same. As I ate my fill I idly wondered if the magic content of the monster made its meat taste better, kind of like a fantasy version of marbling. I coughed, nearly choking on a piece of meat from chuckling at my own joke. Then I found what I was looking for, THE HEART. I broke the plated ribcage and pulled them out of my way. I avoided most of the organ flesh and savored the part I had been salivating over. It tasted so good. I tore large chunks off the large organ and swallowed them down. This thing''s heart was larger than most of the other ones I''ve eaten so far so I couldn''t devour it as fast. All this did was allow me to really enjoy the savory iron taste even longer. It took seven large chewy bites to finish it off and then I was full. It had taken so long to get to the heart that I had filled up my stomach already. I pulled back out of the hole I had made for myself and cleaned off some of the blood on me with my tongue. Even the blood tasted kind of good. When I was done licking my claws I shifted back to my human form and avoided most of the blood that had flicked off my umber hound form in the transformation. ("How was it?") Luna asked. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ("Not bad. About as good as the bats but way more meat for the kill,") I replied. ("Are these things edible for normal people?") ("Well... yes, but they don''t taste very good. I think we''re going to continue eating the Venison for now, there''s still plenty left.") Luna smiled and wiped a stray drop of blood off my face. I looked over at Aria who looked a bit green around the gills from watching me eat. She averted her eyes away from me the moment I looked over at her. It was kind of a shame that we hadn''t been able to grow any closer but without the rings, I didn''t really know how to do it. I still didn''t know enough of the language to talk about things normally with her, most of the words I knew so far were for practical things like directions and coordinating in battle. Or stuff about camping. I just didn''t have a good enough grasp of the language to converse and tell her much about myself yet. Nor could I understand enough to know if I should or not. Ah well, c''est la vie. Glancing back at the dead monster I nudged Luna with my elbow. ("So... what are we doing with the rest of that?") I asked. She shrugged. ("I don''t know. We mostly came to hunt one of these for you. I suggested it to Piper, we don''t know if you need to eat dungeon monsters or not so it seemed like a good idea to let you eat your fill since these things are so big. I also think that you get stronger every time you eat one of those hearts so it seems like a good idea to hunt at least one of everything that seems edible for you.") I turned to her more fully. ("You noticed that too? That I''ve been getting stronger after I eat their hearts?") ("Well, I mean it seems kind of obvious after what happened with the bats right? You ate one of their hearts for the first time, then your hearing suddenly got a lot better. Your fur is also really cool to the touch and you were able to comfortably swim in that freezing lake so I''m guessing you got that from eating the Frost Salamanders. It might also explain why you''re so intensely focused on digging so deep into their bodies when you''re... like that, enough to even eat a goblin heart despite how awful you said they smelled.") I scrunched up in disgust just thinking about how horrible that experience was. ("You''re really observant Luna... I didn''t even realize my fur was cool to the touch.") I shifted back to my wolf form and ran my fingers through my fur. It didn''t feel cold to me... ("If you''re right that means that I might be getting something for every heart I eat right? There might be other changes I haven''t noticed, maybe we should start writing down all the different monsters I eat.") Luna nodded. ("That''s a pretty good idea but I don''t know if we have much we can write with.") She scraped the ground with her boot. ("We can''t even make a list on the ground of this floor.") ("What about charcoal?") She shrugged. ("We don''t really have the tools to make it here in the dungeon. We would need a kiln or something similar.") I shifted back to my human form and sighed. ("I suppose I could just scratch some of the rocks with other rocks.") Luna giggled. ("Well, I don''t think it will be that hard to recall a list of all the monsters you''ve eaten by the time we make it back to the city. We''ll just have to go through the floors and think about which ones you''ve eaten while we were there.") ("How many floors are left?") I asked. ("This is the twelfth floor, so eleven more to go not counting this one. They should start to go faster as we keep going up. We''ve also gotten stronger based on that fight,") she said gesturing toward the barlett, ("and they''ll only get easier from here. Most of our time will be spent walking.") "You two ready?" Maxwell asked. We both nodded and started following after him. This floor''s layout didn''t change as much as most of the other floors so he knew where he was going this time. All of us stayed alert on the walk back but I could tell that none of them were as tense as they were on other floors. Anything was better than the Bloody Halls. This floor felt like a relief after that ordeal. ("You said there was a city up above this dungeon. Do you guys have an apartment up there or anything?") I asked, glancing at Luna. She stayed focused on the area around us as she replied, ("No, occasionally we rent a room at an inn when we''re staying up in the city for a while but we spend most of our time in the dungeon. The first five floors usually have a lot more people on them, so we usually camp out on the fifth even when we''re between jobs. The sixth floor is the Lost Halls, which isn''t too dangerous but it''s a pain to navigate, especially without tools. So most people stop at five unless they''re prepared to go deeper.") ("Are the people on the first five floors dangerous? Like coming across others on the forest floor was?") I asked while scanning the area for monsters. ("It''s not as dangerous on the first five floors to run into other people because there are enough people there that it would be hard to get away with just killing someone and running away. Bounties are put on people who are seen killing others by the Hunter''s Association. It''s not impossible to run into someone hostile but our first instinct wouldn''t be to drive them off the same way we tried to with the group on the fourteenth floor. You still need to do watches though. Even if the people there are less likely to kill you on the early floors, people still might try and steal your stuff.") I nodded and looked over at Aria. Hopefully we wouldn''t need to worry about her as we got closer to the surface. I hoped Maxwell and Piper could get a better read on her character than I can. The five of us continued walking through the beautiful crystal-lit caverns toward the next stairs up. Chapter 42

<~> Chapter 42 My long wolf ear twitched at the sharp plinking sound I could hear from a ways off. The sound came from far enough away that I couldn''t get a clear idea of what I was hearing at first. I stopped and tried to focus my attention on the direction it came from. All I could hear was the repetitious plinking sound. ("Helena? Are you alright?") Luna asked. ("I hear something, but I''m not sure what it is.") Now that everyone stopped I closed my eyes and really tried to focus on the sounds but they were still too far away. ("Whatever it is, I can''t tell from here,") I told her. "I hear something. It is far," I told the others out loud while pointing in the direction. "Is it a monster?" Maxwell asked. I shook my head. "I don''t know." This started a conversation among them. They seemed to be trying to decide whether or not we should check it out but with my limited vocabulary, it was hard to weigh in. I also didn''t really know if it was a good idea or not. Surprisingly it was Aria, the new girl, who seemed the most interested in checking it out. ("Luna, why does Aria seem to want to go?") I asked her. ("She thinks her friends may be there so she wants to check if it''s them.") Even with the rings, Luna was often left out of conversations like this a lot of the time. If she feels strongly about something she can use the rings to speak up but most of the time that isn''t necessary. This floor isn''t conducive to writing in the dirt either. There''s nothing but rock and puddles of water everywhere. I nodded, ("That actually makes sense. She doesn''t know what happened to them but if they got split up somehow, then seeing them on a higher floor doesn''t sound crazy. If we ran into other people would they be worried about us?") ("Well...") Luna hesitated. ("The decision has been put off in favor of talking about you.") I turned to face her. ("Me? Why?") Luna scratched at her big pointy ear. ("Well... She doesn''t think it''s a good idea to show you off to other people. She thinks that other groups might attack us if they saw you with us.") ("I could just shift back to my human form,") I said with a shrug. ("Well, she thinks that your eyes stand out when you''re in your human form too. From far away, on a floor like this, she thinks that people might attack without taking any chances.") Piper was digging through her bag until she pulled out that weird blindfold we got from the chest in the minotaur room. She waved me over. "Helena, .... and put this on." I turned to Luna who translated for me. ("She wants you to turn back to your human form. Shapeshift.") I turned back to Piper. "Shift?" I asked, repeating the word. I wasn''t sure if it had other contexts like the word shift does for me, but for now, thinking about it as shift is good enough. I''m actually rather glad she gave me a word for it. "Yes, shift and put this on," she repeated. I scaled back down to my human form and put on the blindfold. Unlike last time things looked quite a bit different on this floor. The maze had a small amount of magic in the walls, enough that I could see their general shape. But on this floor, the large glowing crystals all over the cave walls were like giant lamps that illuminated everything. It wasn''t exactly like normal sight, but the glowing crystals were giving off magic, enough that I could clearly see the lines and contours of my friends despite being blind in the traditional sense. The sight was stunning, awe-inspiring. ("Helena? Is everything alright?") Luna asked. ("Oh, yeah. It''s weird, I can see pretty well down here with this, those magic crystals give off... Magical light? I don''t know how else to explain it.") I took off the blindfold and handed it to her. She held it up to her eyes and gasped. ("It''s beautiful...") Piper looked back and forth between us. "What?" Luna handed it to Piper next who looked through it after hesitating for a moment. Piper was speechless, she just looked around amazed. The two others became curious, so we spent a while taking turns looking through the blindfold at the magical light the giant crystals gave off. Eventually, they handed the blindfold back to me and I put it on, covering my eyes but replacing my sight with something else. I''m sure all of them got a sense of what my sight would be like with this on, combined with my hearing I wouldn''t really be affected negatively. I adjusted the ribbon on the back, tying it tightly in place. All things considered, it was pretty comfortable. When I shifted back to my wolf form the effect of the blindfold disappeared and I could see normally again, without the magic sight. Part of me had been hoping that I would be able to see both at the same time but however my transformation worked made the effect disappear too. I was a bit disappointed. For now, I stayed in my wolf form. My hearing was improved when I was a human too but it was more clear and I was able to follow the sound better with the little satellite dishes I called ears on my head. "I will shift when we get closer," I told the others. When everyone was ready I led them in the direction the sound was coming from. A stray thought made me imagine another world where I was leading them based on my nose instead of my ears which made me blush a little. Luckily my fur didn''t give me away. Not that they would be able to see my face clearly enough on this floor anyway. It was easy to forget that my sight wasn''t normal either. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Eventually, we got close enough that I could hear voices and distinguish what they were doing. ("I think they''re mining the crystals and loading them into carts of some kind,") I told her. She nodded. ("Tell Piper.") I repeated what I said to Piper through the rings and shifted back down to my human form since they were plenty close enough that I could navigate to them without any trouble. My revelation led to another short conversation but it quickly became clear that we were going to check it out anyway. ("They think that even if the group isn''t Aria''s friends, they may have seen them, so we''re going to ask anyway,") Luna told me. ("Sure, sounds good,") I replied. After a while we got close enough to the outcropping of crystals I was pretty sure the others could see them. It was a bit hard to tell since I was looking through the blindfold now but it wasn''t like I didn''t know what they looked like without it. These ones did look quite bright though. ("Can you guys see them from here?") I decided to ask. ("We can,") she replied. I stopped and turned to Luna. ("How does Maxwell want to do this?") She paused and listened to what Maxwell was saying for a moment before responding. ("He thinks it would be best to send you, Maxwell, and Aria to go ask them about her friends. She can''t see the group well enough to tell if her friends are among them from here. She does doubt they would be here guarding a random mining group though.") ("That''s okay with me then,") I told her. Luna tapped Maxwell on the shoulder, nodded to me, and then gave him the equivalent of their ''ok'' sign. Luna tapped me on the shoulder and when I turned to her I was caught off guard when she gave me a kiss on the cheek. ("Be careful over there. I don''t think I''ll be close enough to translate for you but I''ll stay in range of the rings.") I couldn''t help but smile where she had kissed me. A part of me wanted to kiss her back but I also didn''t want to make things weird so I held back this time. ("Okay,") was all I could manage to reply. I turned away from her before I burned up from embarrassment and stepped over next to Maxwell and Aria. I rested my large axe on my shoulder with the blade behind my head. I hoped it was the kind of stance that showed I was ready, but not hostile. I looked at Maxwell and nodded toward my weapon. "Good?" He nodded. "Yeah, that''s good." Aria looked me up and down, smiled, and said something I couldn''t understand. I turned to Luna. Luna giggled ("She says that despite holding the giant axe, you look less scary than you normally do.") I grinned and turned back to Aria. She laughed and rolled her eyes before nudging Maxwell forward. As was obvious he would be doing most of the talking. We advanced slowly and it didn''t take long for their group to notice us. They called out to Maxwell and he stopped. I took a few more steps forward and stopped next to Maxwell before looking around at the people. Everyone had some level of innate magic I had noticed, enough for me to see them clearly through the blindfold, but the ''light'' of the crystals made them all look much more defined than their own glow did. There was one person in particular though that glowed a lot and based on the staff that she carried I assumed she must have been some kind of magic user like Luna. Maxwell and the guard that approached a bit closer started talking at a distance and since I could barely follow the conversation I decided to focus on watching the people instead. I would follow Maxwell''s lead but I didn''t think this would go anywhere dangerous. Unlike last time, we were the ones approaching and these guys clearly had their own operation going mining the crystals. They probably made plenty enough money that they didn''t need to bother fighting with adventurers that didn''t mean them any harm. After a while Aria handed her sword to Maxwell and walked a bit closer to the guard and started talking to him more directly. Seems they were willing to talk about her missing friends as long as she approached unarmed. The other people in the mining group were still wary enough to watch us but I could tell from here that they had relaxed considerably once they found out what we actually wanted. It was a bit frustrating not really knowing what all they were saying but at least it let me focus on the people. Suddenly I heard some thumping coming from my left so I quickly turned to see what it was. With the blindfold I could see it clear as day, it was one of those barletts. It looked like it was charging me and Maxwell so I turned, gripped my axe with both hands, and hurled it at the monster. I got a lucky hit and the axeblade dug right into the monster''s head, splitting it in half and making it slam on the ground and slide to a harmless stop. When I turned back everyone was gaping at me except for Maxwell who was laughing with exasperation. I was a little confused by their reactions so I just shrugged. "What?" Granted it was a great throw... maybe it was because I threw it at all? The weapon is more awkward than heavy but I suppose it was pretty amazing if I considered trying to attempt a throw like that before I came here. It didn''t feel all that impressive when I watch my girlfriend throw fireballs, Piper stitch up wounds, and Maxwell cut through metal spider legs with a single swing though. "I go get axe?" I asked. Maxwell guffawed and waved me on. I awkwardly looked around at the other people as I made my way over. I wondered what it looked like to them that I was gazing at them while wearing a blindfold. I wonder if the red stylized eye on the front looked creepy. Aria seemed to think the blindfold made me a lot less scary than my spooky eyes did. It was hard to disagree, I still remember when the eyes were hunting me. I ripped the axe out of the barlette''s head. The blood and meat made me lick my lips but luckily I was still full from earlier. The last thing I wanted to do was tear this thing apart and eat it in front of everyone. It was probably a good idea to hunt one of these and eat its heart before I was compelled to do it at a less convenient moment. I would have to remember to be careful of that. ...I wonder if this ties me to the dungeon though. Would staying up on the surface be hard for me by the time I got there? I shrugged off the thought and came back to Maxwell. It looked like whatever they had been talking about was taken care of and most of their guards were still watching me like a hawk now that I had retrieved my axe. I suppose watching me make that throw so effortlessly made them pretty wary of me again. Go figure. Maxwell and Aria waved at the guard and motioned for me to walk with them. I took one last glance at the mining group behind me and followed them away while keeping my ears peeled in case they tried to shoot us in the back. Thankfully, that never happened. Once we got a little farther away Maxwell laughed and shoved me. His mirth was infectious and I started laughing too. Chapter 43

<~> Chapter 43 We returned to Piper and Luna who had been hiding out behind some rocks a short distance away watching. Piper and Maxwell immediately started talking about what happened but they were talking too fast for me to catch so I sat down next to Luna and waited for her to translate for me. Without even having to ask she started telling me what they learned. ("The miners haven''t seen Aria''s group before but they had heard from someone on one of the lower floors that more people than usual have been going missing lately. Stronger than normal enemies have also been appearing in places they didn''t usually show up so a lot of it has been blamed on that. The minotaur and alraune were normal floor bosses for their floors but an umber hound on the sixteenth floor and whatever that spider thing we fought was not normal.") ("Yeah, I don''t really know if the umber hound I fought on the floor with the lake came from there though, I fell through the ground and ended up here with it on top of me. It could have come from somewhere else entirely for all we know.") I glanced back around the rock at the miners. Their guards were still wary of us returning but some of their people had started dragging the corpse of the barlette we had left there back to their camp. Luna hesitated, ("True, but it showing up on the sixteenth floor at all is strange.") I waited for Luna to listen in on the other conversation a bit more and eventually, she had an update for me. ("For now Aria is going to continue traveling up with us. The miners offered to take her in but she feels more comfortable continuing on with us after we fought the spider thing together. She doesn''t know if she''s going to run into her friends but she''s holding out hope that they are still alive.") I nodded, not having anything to add. After the discussion petered out we started heading back the way we came. There were likely other paths up to the next floor from here but Maxwell knew where he was going from where we were before, he hadn''t explored much of this part of this floor since they didn''t take mining jobs often. The walk back was mostly peaceful, for the few barlettes we ran into on the way back I was asked not to help so that Aria, Maxwell, and Piper could get used to fighting in close quarters together. Aria wasn''t too bad with a sword but she normally used a bow and daggers, neither of which we had. Luna told me that Maxwell had suggested that the two of us spar as beginners but I declined. I don''t believe we trust each other enough for that at this stage. My eyes were mostly drawn to the magical rocks. I hadn''t shifted back to my wolf form since we left the mining group behind, I was too interested in looking around with the novel magic sight this blindfold gave me. At one point though I saw something that gave me pause. "Hey, wait," I told the group. Everyone turned to me in surprise when I walked over to something that had been discarded on the ground. It was a rusty looking mining pick. It wasn''t in good shape but I wasn''t really interested in using it much, I just wanted to get a piece of one of these interesting crystals to take with me. It acted like a torch to me when using this strange magic sight, and even without the blindfold, one of the brighter ones could be used in place of an actual torch for the others. ("Helena, we don''t have much room for any of these crystals and we don''t know which ones are valuable,") Luna told me. I looked back at her and smiled. ("That''s alright, I just want a little souvenir to take with me. Something practical like a magic glowing rock doesn''t sound bad.") She smiled back at me and shrugged. ("Well, if you don''t intend to sell it, that''s fine. Do you know which one you want?") I looked around and decided to go for whichever was the brightest. If I was going to take one of the crystals because they were somewhat practical, I might as well go for the brightest one right? I shifted back and forth doing my best to find one that was bright to both of my senses. Once I decided on the crystal I was going to choose I shifted back to my wolf form and picked up the old pickaxe. The wood handle was rough and covered in splinters. I would normally be more worried about it, but my healing will push the splinters right back out of me. This pickaxe wouldn''t be worth keeping but grabbing a few crystals shouldn''t be so bad. The tiny outcropping of crystal I had chosen was a pretty royal blue. Despite the shards being smaller than all the ones nearby, they glowed the most intensely to my blindfold. To my more mundane eyes, the magical glow was beautiful and reminded me of Luna''s pretty eyes. I smiled, maybe I could make her a necklace out of a piece. I wonder if these are safe to use as jewelry. I wouldn''t want either of us to wear something radioactive. Before hitting the crystal I turned to Luna. ("These things are safe to take with us right? I know that people mine them but they aren''t going to give anyone any diseases right?") There were plenty of minerals that are toxic to you and glowing things aren''t exactly the safest looking even if the source seems safer than something radioactive. Luna conferred with Piper for a moment before turning back to me. ("Piper says that she''s never heard of anyone getting illnesses from any of these crystals and they''re frequently used as jewelry by affluent people in this city. Most of them have other useful properties in things like weapons and armor but none of us knows which are which. Anything made with any of this was above our means and we didn''t get the opportunity to learn which of these is more valuable from the few times we''ve guarded people on this floor before,") she replied. ("Okay, great! I''m going to break some pieces of this one off then... Wait. I don''t have a bag or anything, how am I even going to carry it?") I frowned and looked down at the glowing rock. ("How much are you planning on taking?") she asked. I shrugged. ("I don''t know, like a fist-sized chunk or something?") ("Oh, I''ll ask Maxwell for one of the coin pouches we found. That should be enough to hold some of the crystals.") I smiled. ("Thanks, Luna.") Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. I turned and used the rusty pick to try and smash a piece off. The pick was pretty blunt and I was probably being a little clumsy so most of the crystal outcropping smashed into a thousand little pieces. I turned and shielded my face when the thing practically exploded on me. When I looked back there were crystals all over the place. Luckily the explosion wasn''t enough to actually hurt me, even up close, but that was pretty scary. ("Helena! Are you okay!?") I turned and waved with a sheepish smile on my face. ("I''m okay, don''t really know my own strength. None of the pieces hit any of you did they?") I did a quick scan of everyone, they seemed more amused than anything else. ("No, everyone seems to be alright...") Luna brought the bag over to me, I had half expected the crystals to crunch under her feet but her boots weren''t strong enough to break them. I shifted back to my human form and took the bag from her. I wanted to get a good look at the shards to see if I had damaged any of the magic in them. Unfortunately, I had. Most of the crystals didn''t glow as brightly to my mana sight as they had before. Even the dim ones to my mana sight still glowed to my mundane sight though surprisingly. I guess whatever made these things more magical than the other crystals didn''t have much to do with how brightly they glowed. Not proportionally anyway. Looking over the broken pieces I found a few that I decided to keep. The first one was a large chunk a bit bigger than my human fist. It broke in such a way that gave it mostly clean facets. It could probably be cleaned up a little more but it looked nice, even better, it seemed to glow more brightly to my mana sight than the crystal outcropping in general had. I didn''t know if it was the source or just a particular hot spot of the magic that made it glow, but either way, it seemed to be the best. I also gathered a few other smaller pieces. I only picked the ones that still had magic in them but since I had limited space I only chose the ones that didn''t look too damaged. In addition to the fist-sized one, I had four crystals a bit smaller than my palm and six smaller ones, about the size of my fingernail. I would have liked to take more of the pretty glowing crystals but this was the most I could fit in the purse Maxwell and Luna had given me and I don''t want to push my luck with them. Once I finished with all of that, Maxwell started leading us forward again. They were pretty good-natured about me taking a silly detour like this. I wondered if the ones I had mined myself were valuable. I wouldn''t be upset if they weren''t. I mostly just chose them because they looked pretty, not because they were expensive. It would probably be worse for me if they were worth a lot, I was serious when I said wanted these as souvenirs and if they were too valuable I would have to consider selling them and I really didn''t want to. I kept looking at some of the other crystals we passed. Not many of the other crystals were as bright as the ones I collected but there were definitely others that were brighter. I didn''t see any of the same color as the ones that I had taken but I could only see the color when I was in my wolf form and I had been swapping back and forth to take in all the sights. I was probably driving my friends crazy. I suppressed a laugh but Luna noticed. She took a step closer and looked up at me in my wolf form. Any hints of fear that this form had previously given her were completely gone now, she looked up at me with a sweet smile even when I looked like this. ("What''s so funny?") she asked. Her ears twitched and her tail lazily swung back and forth. Despite walking through a dangerous dungeon she looked relaxed and content. Not that this floor was proving that dangerous, none of these monsters were a threat to any of us. I chuckled. ("I was just thinking that me shifting back and forth so much must be driving you guys nuts.") She smiled and shrugged. ("I can''t speak for the others but I don''t mind it. I feel like you''re just keeping an eye on us, to keep us safe. I''m not sure how different your two forms feel but I assume they have trade-offs.") I scratched the back of my head awkwardly and looked away. ("What would you say if I was only doing it to compare how pretty everything was in my wolf form verses through the blindfold?") Luna''s eyebrows rose and she turned away from me before she started to giggle. ("You''re serious?") I could tell she wasn''t mad so I just laughed along with her. ("Yeah, I''ve never seen anything like this before. It''s amazing.") I shifted back to my human form and gently took her hand. She normally wouldn''t allow me to when walking through the dungeon but between my hearing and the relatively slow monsters on this floor, she didn''t argue. As much as I felt like I was jinxing things to think it, this floor wasn''t very dangerous. Luna squeezed my hand in hers and we kept walking. Eventually we found what we were looking for. The stairs up to the next level. I hadn''t been told what the next floor was but it was obvious that we were setting up camp here for the night. I wonder if we would come across others coming and going through the stairs. Would the miners come across us while we were camping here? ("Luna, should we be worried about other people when camping next to the stairs like this?") I asked. She shrugged. ("Yes and no. It''s kind of an unofficial code not to attack other people near the stairs. Even from a pragmatic standpoint, spilling blood can attract monsters, and attracting monsters to the stairs of a dungeon is bad for everyone. That doesn''t mean it never happens and it''s why it''s important to keep a watch but fighting near the stairs is usually not something you should worry about. It''s a bigger concern if they follow you when you leave the stairs.") I nodded. ("Makes sense.") ("...Helena?") ("Hm?") I turned to look back at her. She was holding her bedroll and looking away with a blush on her face. ("Would it be alright if I slept next to you when we''re not on watch?") With a blush on my face, I nodded. Then I cleared my throat when I realized she was still looking away. ("Sure... I don''t mind.") Chapter 44

<~> Chapter 44 Luna and I took first watch together and chatted casually while we relaxed by the campfire. It was fairly easy to pick up the sounds of people and monsters walking nearby on this floor so I didn''t need to pay too much attention as long as I kept an ear out for trouble. After a small lull in our conversation, Luna started scooting closer to me until she was practically leaning against me. I took the opportunity to wrap one of my arms around her and pull her against my body. I was still in my human form and wearing the light armor I had found in the lake chest, so it wasn''t as comfortable as it could be, but I got the feeling she appreciated it all the same. ("Helena... What do you think about Demi-humans? Or beastkin generally?") Luna asked. I turned and looked at her, my eyes gravitating to her ears. ("If they''re anything like you, then I think they''re cute?") She smiled and swished her tail. ("I''m serious. You don''t have any problems with me? You''re not hesitating on making our engagement official because I''m a beastkin, right?") I squeezed her. ("That''s not it, I promise. Like I told you before, I''ve never met any beastkin or demi-humans before. You''re the first one I''ve ever met so I would say my opinion of them is pretty positive right now.") Luna giggled a little bit before suddenly having to cough and clear her throat. I handed her waterskin over to her. ("Are you okay?") She seemed a little embarrassed. ("Yeah... my throat just got a little irritated.") I nodded and pulled her back into a hug once she had set her waterskin back down. ("Can I play with your tail?") I asked her. She tilted her head to the side. ("Uhm, sure. I don''t mind.") She flicked her fluffy tail into my lap. The orange and black fur of it shined in the light of the campfire. I ran my fingers through it slowly. ("It''s really soft. Do you use anything on it?") ("No, I just wash it with soap. Some people like to use oils and things on the fur of their tails but I never had the luxury,") she said with a smile. ("Would you like to try it sometime? Oils or conditioners?") I asked. ("Maybe... perhaps when money is less of an issue. I''ve never looked but I think oils are expensive.") I nodded. ("Yeah, I wouldn''t be surprised.") I ran my fingers through her fur, gently pulling out knots and tangles with my fingers. ("Do you ever brush it?") I asked. ("I try to run a brush through it every few days or it starts to get matted. The one I have isn''t very comfortable though, it''s mainly for getting dirt out of it. It''s over there in my bag,") she said waving to her pack by her bedroll. ("Do... humans normally not like beastkin? Or vice versa?") I asked. Luna frowned and met my eyes. ("Normally no... It''s not unheard of for them to live in the same villages and cities but the two groups often stay away from each other. Humans usually don''t find beastkin trustworthy and often see them as dangerous or wild.") I grinned at her. ("What if I like wild?") Luna blushed and glanced away with a smile. ("Then that''s good for me.") ("Is there a history between the two... peoples? Did they fight a war or something?") I asked. ("Nothing as direct as that,") Luna replied. ("A lot of beastkin are wanderers and have trouble settling down until they''re older. That means most beastkin are outsiders wherever they go at best and intruders at worst.") I continued to run my fingers through Luna''s furry tail. ("Do... people have issues with... I''m not sure what to call it, interracial or interspecies relationships? For that matter can the two even have children?") ("Neither of those two words mean anything to me so I can''t understand what you''re asking, but to the second question, yes. The two can crossbreed with minimal trouble but the children are always beastkin. I think that''s also part of the issue, some people see beastkin as impure humans, whatever that means to them.") I frowned, I didn''t really like the sound of that. It struck too close to several of the problems from my own world. For now, I shrugged it off. ("Would any of that stuff bother you if we did make things official?") I asked. She smiled. ("No. I don''t mind if some humans don''t approve of us and you''re strong enough that any beastkin won''t have anything to complain about either.") I raised an eyebrow. ("I''m not going to have to fight people off to prove my worth, am I?") She gave me an amused smile. ("Maybe just a few, here or there. Nothing you won''t be able to handle. I''m not sure many people could win a fight with you in single combat. And you wouldn''t have to win, just show that you''re strong enough to protect me.") I chuckled and kissed her on the head. ("Too bad you''re worth it, I''m just going to have to resign myself to fighting off all my competitors.") She looked up at me and bit her lip. The intensity of the look she gave me made my heart thump in my chest. That line must have struck a chord with her. I leaned forward and kissed her and she wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned into me. I pulled back from the kiss before we went too far with it, we were supposed to be on watch after all. I cleared my throat. ("Uhm. What is the difference between demi-humans and beastkin anyway?") Luna leaned against me and smiled. ("Humans call anything that isn''t a human but is intelligent and humanoid a demi-human. Beastkin are specifically any humanoids that have animal traits.") She held her tail up with her hand. ("No one''s sure where beastkin come from but we''re distinguished by these traits. Even if the traits aren''t very noticeable, they always have children with similar traits, but they can be more or less pronounced than their parents.") ("So you would technically be both a demi-human and a beastkin by those definitions?") I asked. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. She nodded. ("Yes. Most people don''t mind the term beastkin but some people find demi-human derogatory. Especially when coming from a human, just a word of warning.") ("Good to know.") I looked up at one of the large glowing crystals on the ceiling. ("Would I be considered a beastkin? Or maybe a demi-human?") I asked. She tapped her chin. ("I don''t know. Umber hounds are considered monsters, not animals, but I guess technically you could claim you''re a beastkin. I think most people would still think your eyes are unsettling even if they didn''t know about your transformation.") ("There''s a difference between animals and monsters too?") I asked. She nodded. ("Sure, like the difference between the deer you killed and the barlette. One is relatively mundane, barely having any magic in them at all, and the other is full of magic, making it strong and monstrous. Even when animals are dangerous, they''re not nearly as dangerous as a similar animal with magic coursing through their body.") ("Interesting. So there aren''t any barlette beastkin?") I asked. Luna giggled. ("Not that I know of. But it''s a huge world. Who knows what else is out there.") I stared into the crackling fire. ("What do you think of Aria and Maxwell?") She tilted her head. ("What about them?") ("You haven''t noticed Aria trying to get with Maxwell?") I asked. ("What? Really?") Luna asked with wide eyes. I stared at her blankly. ("You really couldn''t tell? She''s been following him around and glancing at him constantly.") ("But then... oh. And Piper... oh.") She stared off into space with a startled expression. I laughed. ("You''re not joking? Man, it was so obvious. Piper practically pushed her into Maxwell''s lap the other day.") ("I just thought she was teasing them! I didn''t think that she was actually trying to get the two together!") Luna said defensively. I pulled Luna over and kissed her on the cheek. ("You''re so cute.") She rubbed her face and pouted but the blush on there told me she was more embarrassed than angry. ("At least I don''t need to worry about her stealing you from me.") ("So you were jealous then?") I asked. Her tail flicked back and forth behind us a few times. ("Maybe protective is the better word for it. It''s too early for any competition. I like you too much to let anyone else get in my way before we''ve fully established anything...") I grinned and patted her on the head. ("No need to worry about my eyes wandering to other girls, and you don''t need to worry about her. I don''t think she likes other girls even if her eyes weren''t all over Maxwell.") ("What makes you say that?") she asked. I shrugged. ("I don''t know. Intuition? Gut feeling?") She snuggled into my side a little more. ("Well, that''s a relief then. I do hope she finds her people though. Even if she ends up staying with us, having all of your friends die at once would be sad.") I frowned. ("Yeah... I don''t like to think about that possibility.") ("Yeah...") Luna agreed. I patted her on the shoulder. ("It''s about time to wake up Piper and Aria I think. Would you mind taking care of Aria? I think I still freak her out too much.") ("Sure, but I did hear her say that you''re less scary with the blindfold on. I think she likes you better when you''re wearing it.") I chuckled. ("I bet. She''s lucky that I don''t mind wearing it so far. We''ll see how things look on the next floor with this blindfold on.") We stood up and woke the two others for their turn on watch. The two of us usually took first watch since we liked to chat for a while before going to sleep. Since Aria joined us, Maxwell and Piper have been switching off for ''middle watch'' and letting the last person get a bit of extra sleep before we all got up. Aria kind of gets the short end of the stick but since the others like to have two people on watch at all times it kind of makes sense. Luna and I should probably take a middle watch sometime too, to make things fair. I think Piper and Maxwell are letting us have some alone time on purpose though. When I made my way back over to Luna she was already sitting on her bedroll with the blanket pulled up. ("Helena, shift and come here,") she said patting the bedroll. ("Are you sure?") I asked. ("I don''t know if I''ll fit under your blanket with you.") She smiled. ("It''s fine, just trust me and lie down!") I shifted to my larger form and awkwardly rolled onto my back. Luna lifted her blanket and laid herself on top of me sandwiched between me and her blanket. In this form, I was so much larger than her that it wasn''t too hard to hold her against me comfortably, but I was mostly outside of the blanket. It was a little awkward to be lying on my back with the small blanket only covering a bit of my chest but Luna seemed to be enjoying herself. I didn''t need to worry about the cold anyway so it wasn''t that big of a deal as long as I could get to sleep like this. Luna traced her fingers through my fur as she looked up at my wolf head. ("Are you comfortable?") she asked. I wiggled a little. ("Lying like this feels a little weird but it''s not uncomfortable.") She smiled and rested her head against my chest. ("If it''s not too bad will you put up with it for me? I really like the way your fur smells.") She nuzzled her nose into my chest and took a deep breath, making me blush. ("Sorry if that''s a little weird...") I carefully traced my clawed hands down her back. ("A little, but I can put up with it.") The idea that I smelled good to her was kinda weird but it was also... kind of flattering? I was a little glad that my fur-covered head didn''t reveal my blush because I was sure I would be quite red right now. I protectively wrapped my arms around Luna which seemed to make her melt against me. It didn''t take very long at all for her relaxed breaths to signal that she had fallen asleep on top of me. Closing my eyes I focused on her slow breathing and her warmth against my chest. Luna gave me a lot to think about after that conversation. It was nice to know a bit more about this new world I was in, but it was also sad to learn about some of the issues we would face. They didn''t really phase me though. It''s not like being a lesbian didn''t have its share of challenges in my old world either. There would always be people around judging you for who you loved. Truthfully, I was more confident in dealing with the challenges in this world than my original one. The thought of showing off my strength while Luna watched from the sidelines did have a certain appeal to it. Not long after that thought I followed Luna and fell asleep hugging her against me. Chapter 45

<~> Chapter 45 The warm heat traveled up my legs as the five of us got closer to the top of the stairs. This next floor felt like an oven compared to the last one. I was used to the heat from the blazing hot summers in my hometown but I wasn''t sure how long I would be able to deal with it without being able to run into the cool air-conditioning afterwards. I licked my lips. Just like home, there was basically no humidity on this floor either. At least it''s a dry heat, I thought ironically to myself. When I stepped onto the floor I looked around using the new magic sight that I had using the blindfold. The large chunk of crystal I had tightly tied to my waist shined magical light through the cavern. I could faintly see the walls even outside of where the magical light radiated but the magical light made everything much more rich in detail. It was fascinating to look at but I decided for now that it would be easier to deal with the heat on this floor using my transformed state. I stretched out to my full height in my werewolf form and cracked my neck. I wasn''t sure if this was better exactly but at least I wouldn''t be soaked in sweat ten minutes from now. I opened my mouth and let out a sigh. If I stayed in this form I was bound to start panting after long. I wasn''t sure which was worse, getting soaked in sweat or panting like an animal in front of my friends. For now I would stick to this form. With luck whatever monster I ate next would make this whole thing more bearable. With my natural sight, I could see that the walls were a ruddy brown color with bits and pieces of volcanic glass embedded in the walls. That would explain the heat, hopefully we didn''t come across any pockets of magma on our travels. The ceiling was comfortably high, but more similar in height to the goblin floor than the crystal cavern floor. It was enclosed but was tall enough that I was plenty comfortable walking around in my wolf form. I turned to look at the rest of the group and noticed all of them stripping off a lot of their clothes. Maxwell went shirtless except for the small amount of cloth normally between himself and his armor, Aria had taken off her chest piece and top entirely leaving her only in her bra, pants, and leg armor, Luna had switched to a cute short sleeve top with her robes open and wrapped around her waist like a skirt, and Piper had switched to a lighter shirt somewhat like a tank-top that showed off more of her muscular arms and neck. ("This floor is always miserable,") Luna told me with distaste in her voice. ("It''s always hot here and my magic doesn''t work well on most of the monsters on this floor, since they''re almost all fire resistant. I have to use water magic which I''m not as good with.") ("Is there anything worth eating for me? I wouldn''t mind some heat resistance,") I asked. Luna frowned. ("The first thing that comes to mind are those striped horses. When they''re alive they have a mane of fire that goes out when they die. There''s also this large cat with black fur that breathes fire at you but those are a little bit more rare. The most common enemies on this floor are these small rock golems about the height of my knees, they''re burning hot to the touch and they try to burn you by tackling you with their bodies. Those are pretty dangerous for Maxwell because if he doesn''t get a break between fighting them, his shield can start to burn his skin.") I nodded and looked over at Maxwell who was talking with Aria. She was subtly sneaking glances at his muscular chest when he wasn''t looking. I tapped Luna on the shoulder and pointed at them. ("See, watch Aria, she''s totally ogling him.") The two of us quietly watched as she took a few more appreciative glances when he bent over to look through his bag. ("Oh gosh! You''re right, it''s so obvious now that you''ve pointed it out!") Luna replied excitedly. ("Do you think the two of them are a good match?") I asked. Luna tapped her chin. ("I''m not sure. Truthfully... I have been keeping her at a bit of a distance since I was worried about her before... And because of my throat, I can''t really talk to her the way I can talk to you.") I nodded. ("True. That must be hard...") Her small hand reached up and held my larger clawed hand. ("It is sometimes. But I''m used to it.") Her words made my heart ache. I cleared my throat. ("Looks like everyone''s ready. Let''s get in formation I guess. Is there anything else in particular about this floor that I should be worried about? Traps or anything?") I asked. ("No traps or anything like that. Just be careful not to follow directly behind anyone if you can help it, a lot of the monsters here have projectile attacks so if someone dodges ahead of you or vice versa then one of you could get hit. There are also a few pools of water around, you can drink from them safely but they''re hot so be careful about sticking your hands in them. Oh! And since I''m using water magic on this floor, be careful of steam. I''ll try not to attack anything directly in front of anyone but be careful.") I paused and turned to look at her when I processed the last part of what she said. ("Wait, you can use water magic too?") Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. She looked back at me in confusion before she came to a realization. ("Oh! Yes, I can cast some water magic too. I mainly use fire magic because I have a greater affinity for it which makes it more powerful but I can use both. I can also use some wind magic but because of the way I''m forced to cast, it''s basically useless... I might have other affinities I don''t know about, but these are the ones that I''ve tried, the most well-known ones. The only thing I''m not good with is terra magic.") ("How do you test for magic anyway?") I asked. Luna gave me an amused smile. ("Why don''t we talk about this more later, it''s a little too much to talk about while paying attention to the dungeon.") ("Sounds good,") I replied. Truthfully I was a little excited to hear about it. If I had magic in me, could I use magic too? Once all of us were ready, we set out in a slightly spread out formation. Rather than being in a line like usual, Piper and Maxwell were in front with Aria and Luna in the middle, I followed from behind in the center. Aria didn''t have a bag yet so she was carrying her chest armor under one arm. I assumed she would have to drop it once we started fighting. Maxwell confidently led us in one direction but paused at the forks in the cavern so I figured this floor was similar to the ones that changed a bit but generally moved in one direction. It wasn''t too long before we encountered our first enemies. Four of those rock golem things. Like Luna had told me they were small three-foot-tall rock monsters in a generally humanoid shape. They had red glowing stones embedded where their face would be that lit up when they made threatening noises at us. Maxwell looked like he was about to grab the mace he kept at his waist but instead pulled out his sharp silvery sword. Normally you wouldn''t want to cut rock but it seemed like he was about to try it. I ran to the front of the group and slipped my shield onto one arm. My axe was more of a chopping weapon but it shouldn''t be too bad against these things. The closest one flung itself with surprising speed toward Piper who used her shield to fling it away from her. She only had a sword but it looked like she was only planning on defending from the way she stood. The monster she had flung away came near me so I slashed at it with my axe. The axe bit into the monster''s side and knocked it away. Maxwell slashed at a different one and his incredibly sharp sword surprisingly sliced right through the thing as if it was made of paper. The top half of the golem toppled over its legs but it wasn''t dead. It used its arms to crawl toward Maxwell. The glowing stone in their faces must be their power source. One of the golems tried to run past me at Aria but Luna intercepted it with a blast of water. Hot steam sprayed off of it as it toppled over to the side, knocked over but not destroyed. I took the opportunity to bring my axe down on the monster''s head and I killed it immediately after. Another ran at Aria but the best she could do was bat it away with her shield. She tried to take a few stabs at it but her sword just bounced off the hard rock monster. Before I could make it over to her I saw Maxwell run in her direction so I decided to go to Piper who was trying to knock away the first one that had attacked us. The only way I could tell this one apart was that it still had damage on its side from where I had hit it earlier. I flanked it from the side and waited for a good opportunity. The moment Piper''s eyes met mine, I could tell she knew what I was waiting for. The next time the monster attempted to tackle her, she shoved it back and I took the opening to slash my axe at its head. My aim was a bit off so instead of hitting its head my axe bisected the monster through the chest. Like the one Maxwell had killed it tried to rear up to crawl on its remaining limbs but Piper had managed to pin it down with her shield. I ran over and crushed its glowing face with the head of my axe. "Piper!" Maxwell called out. The two of us turned to find Maxwell dragging Aria over. Her left hand and the top of her right arm were covered in nasty looking burns. Aria''s teeth were clenched and she had tears in her eyes but the tough catgirl wasn''t crying. It looks like the monster had gotten around her shield and she was forced to push it off of her. Without a word, Piper ran over and began healing her while I kept watch. I didn''t hear anything coming around so I took a few glances at Piper while she worked. Aria looked like she was taking quick breaths, if she wasn''t careful she was going to hyperventilate. The burns were slowly healing back to normal but from the look of it, they were very painful. The only time I had been healed by Piper it didn''t last long enough for me to think about the pain. I looked away and panted. I think the heat was getting to all of us a bit. After the fight, everyone was wiping sweat from themselves and Piper always looked like she exerted herself a lot when healing others. I wasn''t sure how exactly the healing magic worked but Aria was munching on some of those awful jerky rations the moment her healing was finished. I couldn''t imagine eating something so salty in a place like this, I hoped our water lasted. Just watching Aria drink made me thirsty. After Piper was finished all of us took a quick break. Maxwell and Luna went to dig the glowing rocks out of the skulls of the golems while I sat next to Aria and looked over my axehead to see if there was any damage. I traced my finger along the edge. It wasn''t razor sharp or anything but along the entire head, the axe came to a sharp point and there wasn''t any indication of rolling on the edge that would require fixing. Unlike my knife, it didn''t come to a thin edge but I was pretty sure that was normal for an axe. It didn''t look like the axe was damaged or even blunted despite attacking monsters completely made of stone. I should probably ask Piper and Maxwell about what kind of maintenance I needed to do to keep this weapon in good shape. The thing was growing on me, even if it felt a bit unwieldy at times still. I looked over at Aria who was gently rubbing the skin of her arm. The places she was burned were still slightly red in a few places but it looked a lot better than when I had initially seen it. "Okay?" I asked. She looked up at me, surprised that I was speaking to her. "Oh... Yes, it''s .... ...." she said. I frowned, unsure of what the words I had missed were but it wasn''t like I could ask her. I just shrugged and looked around. Maxwell and Luna were sitting down off to the side drinking some of their water. I hope this floor wasn''t too big because we were going to have issues with water if this kept up. I shifted back to my human form to take a drink of water myself. It was too hard to drink in my wolf form without wasting anything. I glanced at my axe curiously. I had never noticed before but now that I was looking at it through the blindfold, it faintly glowed as well. Maybe it was magical too? It didn''t glow very bright compared to some other things, certainly nowhere near as bright as Maxwell''s silvery-blue sword, but it did glow. I smiled, hopefully this meant it wouldn''t require much maintenance. I hefted the large weapon back to my shoulder and shifted back into my werewolf form. As much as the heat of this floor was sapping all the energy from me, we needed to keep moving. With a little bit of prodding the five of us were headed down the cavern again. We hadn''t been on this floor long but I hoped we made it out of here soon. I wouldn''t want to sleep on this awful floor, even if the heat made me a bit sleepy. There wasn''t even a fan! Chapter 46

<~> Chapter 46 These little golem things were starting to piss me off. There were so many of them. My friends found them easier to deal with than the goblins... but not me. The goblins would go down in one or two slashes of my claws, let alone the huge axe I was using now. But these dumb golems take sooooo long to kill. They''re slow enough that I don''t really have trouble with them but anything other than a headshot isn''t enough to kill them, meaning it usually takes me two or three hits. My axe collided with one of them and Aria jumped forward to finish it off with the mace Maxwell had lent her. She''s been in a lot better shape fighting these since she was given a more appropriate weapon. I could tell she was still working off the anger she had after being burned in the first fight. Apparently, in addition to the pain, she was embarrassed to have been hit by one of them. She finds them just as slow as I do, she just didn''t really have a way to fight them off and she let one of them get the better of her. That''s what Luna told me after listening in on their conversation. The only one who was having any fun on this floor was Maxwell. His stupid new sword could slash through these things as if they were as soft as anything else. My logical brain told me there was no point in being jealous of a person being trained with a sword getting the sword, but my emotional brain told me it wasn''t fair that he was having such an easy time. Maybe that''s how these guys usually feel with me around... I groaned and shifted down to my human form as soon as Maxwell finished off the last one. I wiped the sweat off my brow and rubbed my eyes. After the second time shifting back, I gave the blindfold to Luna for safekeeping. I liked the idea of wearing it regularly now, but I didn''t want to absolutely ruin the thing with all the sweat that was pouring off of me. It didn''t take me long to come to the conclusion that I pretty much couldn''t maintain my werewolf form on this floor. I wasn''t cooling off fast enough to keep it up. The heat was really getting to me now. The worst part was that we pretty much had to stop after every fight to catch our breath, there was no way around it. Swinging weapons around was tiring, doubly so when you''re hot and exhausted. And because even our breaks were in this sweltering heat, that meant every fight was grueling and it took us even longer than normal to catch our breath. I was guzzling down water as fast as the others now. I hoped our water lasted because that is not the way I want to go. Who knows, it might not even kill me right away, I might be stuck in a regenerating hell until my body runs out of mana or whatever it runs on. The thought itself was enough to send shivers down my spine. But right now I couldn''t force myself to care. I just needed enough water to offset all of the sweating I was doing. The water breaks were all that was keeping us going I think. Luna was faring about as well as I was. I got the impression that she was doing better than the others though. She seemed to have less trouble with the heat the the other three, maybe it had something to do with her fire magic. She hasn''t been as talkative as usual on this floor, I would ask but even that sounds like too much work for me right now. I just want to get moving as soon as possible. I wanna get out of here. We haven''t even found any of those other monsters that Luna had told me about, the ones that could possibly give me heat resistance. I suddenly jerked up. I heard something! A monster I hadn''t heard before, this one sounds alive unlike the stupid golems. ("Luna! I hear a monster! Something other than one of those golems!") I told her excitedly through the rings. She looked over at me and wiped the sweat from her brow. ("Is it coming this way?") she asked. I closed my eyes and perked my ears. ("Doesn''t sound like it, it sounds like it''ll pass us by...") When I looked back at her I frowned. I could tell what she was thinking and I didn''t expect any of the others to be that much more amenable to the idea of chasing after a monster that wasn''t coming this way. ("Should I go chase it on my own?") I asked. Luna frowned. ("That may be best. I don''t think that anything on this floor would be able to hurt you too badly but you could still get overwhelmed... especially in this heat.") I wiped the sweat from my brow again. ("I have to risk it. If one of those things can give me heat resistance I need to take the chance.") ("...Okay. Just tell Piper you''re leaving first,") she replied. I told Piper that I was going to go hunt whatever I was hearing before it got away. Piper told the others and it seemed that none of them objected to me going. It could just be that everyone was so tired they weren''t thinking enough to stop me but I''ll just be generous and believe they were confident in my ability to take care of myself. I set my axe down next to Luna before I left. I think I would be better off fighting whatever this was with my claws. I think the others were relieved that we were extending our break so that I could hunt. Speeding up to a light jog was the best I could do right now. I couldn''t even tolerate being in my werewolf form until I got closer. I would need all the time in my werewolf form that I could stand before I passed out from heat stroke. Luckily the thing wasn''t moving very fast. It was loping around on all fours at a relaxed pace. I could tell I was gaining on it even like this, which was nice. I would just have to hope it didn''t detect me before I got close enough to chase it. As I crept up on it my instincts asserted themselves again. I had gotten better at dealing with them but it was so hard to think that I quickly just found myself going with the flow. Without fully understanding what I was trying to do I adjusted the angle of my approach as I got closer. The monster looked like a black panther from behind but with a less shiny coat. Could be the lighting, I couldn''t tell. It didn''t seem to reflect light back at my eyes though which could mean something. It was hard to care right now. I crept closer. It didn''t detect me yet. I shifted forms. I was already panting from the heat but I would have to put up with it for now. As I pounced from around the corner I was hiding around it spun and leapt up at me. The thing was big, but not as big as I was. Its claws raked against me but I didn''t even bother trying to stop it, instead I just bit right down on its neck as we clashed. It started struggling, so I started to SHAKE IT. I could feel blood dripping down my chest but I didn''t know if it was mine or the panther''s. The blood was as hot as everything else. In one last act of defiance, it spat flames out of its mouth at me but the angle I happened to be holding its head at made it only singe my shoulder a little as I held the struggling monster in place. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. When I managed to grab hold of one of its forelimbs, I used that to get the leverage I needed to break the thing''s neck. With a loud crunching snap the thing finally fell limp, dead in my jaws. I spat the monster out and flipped it onto its back. With only a quick glance around to make sure nothing was near I began to rip open its chest and tear into its flesh. The monsters were getting worse every floor but this one was still salvageable. It didn''t taste bad but its flavor wasn''t as strong. I fed on it to replenish my strength. After letting myself take so much damage I needed the meal, but that wasn''t my goal. At last I found it! I tore into the heart and swallowed it down in only a few bites and waited for a change. I felt something tingle down my spine and alter my body further... but it wasn''t heat resistance. I almost cried. I took a few unsteady steps back and let myself shift back. I felt dizzy and overheated. This was what happened when I stayed in that form too long here, bare skin and sweat glands were better at displacing the heat than panting. It was still too hot though. I started undoing the straps to take off my shirt. I''d fight topless if I had to, I just needed to cool myself off a little more. I walked back to my friends with my shirt under one arm. All that I had covering my top half was my sweat-soaked silk chest wrap. Luna looked up at me when I returned. ("No luck?") she asked through the rings. I nearly collapsed next to her and wiped the sweat from my face. ("Panther thing that breathes fire. Whatever it did, it didn''t give me heat resistance. I don''t know what changed and I frankly don''t care enough right now to worry about it.") ("I''m sorry Helena...") I could tell she meant it. It was kind of sweet. I don''t think I would have been as kind if she had gone off to find a source of relief only she was able to gain. But maybe she understood how I was feeling. She handed me a canteen. I took a sip of water then looked down at it curiously. It was full... ("Luna, how much water do we have left?") ("Plenty, Maxwell always carries lots of spare canteens for this floor. We''ve taken this trip too many times to mess this one up after we had to turn around the first time. This floor isn''t very hard if you discount the heat... but it always sucks.") ("Sometimes it feels like the floors have been getting harder for me, not easier...") I griped. Luna laughed. ("This will be the last really hard one before the Lost halls on floor six. Most of the remaining floors aren''t that difficult.") I took another big gulp of water and wiped the sweat off my face again. ("Those groups that come through here just to harvest crystals on the next floor down are masochists.") ("What does that make us?") Luna asked with an amused grin. ("Masochists,") I responded flatly. ("Going through this to hunt goblins is even worse.") She lightly batted at my arm. ("Anyway, Piper and Maxwell were wondering if you still wanted to track down one of those striped horses. We''re about two-thirds through this floor by Maxwell''s estimation but we could hang around the stairs of the next floor and dip back in until you find one of those to eat too.") ("Being two-thirds through this awful floor is the best news I''ve heard all day,") I said with a sigh. ("I don''t know. I feel like I probably should? If there''s a downside to what I''ve been doing I haven''t found it yet. It would be sad if one of those things gave me heat resistance after I cleared the floor but it would be nice in the future I guess.") ("I think it''s probably worth spending some extra time hunting one down... after we get to the other side. I don''t know if it would be worth me coming with though, my magic is near useless against those striped horses. I''d probably just slow you down if I came with.") I laughed. ("That just sounds like you''re trying to get out of helping me.") She pouted. ("It''s true though! And sure, I am trying to get out of helping, but why should I be hot too when I won''t even be doing anything!") ("Moral support?") I suggested. She pouted even harder. I laughed and patted her head. ("Fine fine, you don''t need to come back down to this hell hole again once we get to the other side. It''ll make hunting them down a lot less fun though.") Luna pulled herself to her feet. ("It''s about time to get moving again. Are you okay to keep going now or do you need some more time?") I took another swig of water and dragged myself up after her. ("No, no. The sooner we get out of this place the better.") I got Piper to carry my top in her pack for the rest of the floor and I grabbed my axe. Man do I hope there aren''t too many more of those dumb golems ahead. Chapter 47

<~> Chapter 47 The good news is we didn''t need to hunt for them. The bad news is... Fifteen of these fire-maned zebras are about to surround us. These weren''t exactly what I was picturing when she told me striped horses earlier but it made sense. We had been struggling along and getting through more fights with those dumb golems. Eventually, we walked into a larger cavern for the last stretch of this place. Unfortunately, this cavern is filled with those flaming zebras right now. ("You didn''t hear them?") Luna asked. I shook my head. ("I didn''t. They were also quieter than I expected, I expected clopping or something... Plus it''s hard to focus...") A wall of flame flared up in front of us but the zebras calmly walked through them, completely unfazed by the fire. Luna sighed and her ears went back. I didn''t think she expected the fire to hurt them but probably hoped it would at least deter them. No such luck. "Helena! Piper! Circle!" Maxwell called out. I hefted my axe and slung my shield in front of me. For now, I would fight as a human and hope I didn''t get burned. Fighting in my wolf form took too much out of me when it was this hot. ("Piper, I don''t know how well my human form regenerates. You might need to heal me if I take a nasty hit,") I warned her. "Okay!" she called out to me while getting in formation herself. Piper was never undaunted in standing in front and taking hits herself, seemingly just as eager to take hits as any other front-line fighter despite being a healer. Aria however didn''t argue and took a stance in the middle of the group. She had switched back to a sword for this fight but I wouldn''t be betting my life on her swordsmanship skills in front. We''re best off letting the three of us handle it. The fire-maned zebras were making barking noises and slowly circling us. The dungeon was a strange place. I didn''t know why these monsters that looked so similar to animals behaved this way. I couldn''t imagine the herbivores these things resembled being this aggressive around people. The monsters in this place were borderline suicidal, trying to fight us to the death rather than attempting to run away most of the time. It was hard to understand their motivation as anything other than the dungeon itself trying to kill us. Suddenly one charged me. I planted my feet and held up my shield. It hit so hard that my entire body rocked in place and one of my feet was lifted off the ground for a brief moment the first time. I absorbed the shock fine though and swung my axe down at the monster before it could get away. My slash clipped its ass but it didn''t go deep enough to leave a major wound. Before I could fully recover I heard Piper grunt behind me as she took the hit a little harder than I had. Unlike me, she took too long to recover and didn''t get a hit in, but Aria managed to slash her sword and get a nice wound on the zebra monster''s leg. The monster limped back into the group circling us and continued on. After their first couple of probing attacks, they were smart enough to start attacking us in pairs or all at once to catch us off guard. There was one sure standout in this fight though. Every time Maxwell was attacked he was the quickest to redirect the attack and get a slash in with his magical sword. Maxwell was the most practiced with counter-attacking so even though not every attack hit its mark, he was the most consistent at getting devastating hits in. It happened often enough that the beasts had stopped attacking him nearly as much and focused on the two comparably weak links in our group. Piper was the weakest of the three of us but Aria had been doing a good job of taking advantage of the openings she was making, so it was actually me that wasn''t able to capitalize much on their attacks. Using my giant axe one-handed in the heat while holding up my shield wasn''t working for me. Even when I did get a hit in, they were only minor slashes because I just couldn''t muster much force behind my attacks like this. I really hope these monsters give me heat resistance, I was so miserable. Then, I got really lucky. After one of the zebras kicked against my shield, I twisted for a counter-attack and my axe landed square on the monster''s spine as it tried to get away. The monster crumpled over, completely unable to move its legs anymore. My mouth began to water and my brain howled to take the kill and flee with it. But I grit my teeth and ignored the blaring screams of my instincts in my head. I needed to stay in formation and protect my packmates. Redirecting my instincts to something else my instincts agreed with was easier than trying to stamp them down. I gave my friends a quick glance. Everyone was okay so far but understandably hot. Luna was hurling balls of water at the animals and misty steam billowed off of them from time to time. It seemed like they were trying to cook us if we didn''t fall to their kicks. While Luna wasn''t taking any of them down, she was counteracting the haze of heat they were trying to create around us. Their little herd was thinning though. It was slow going, but we were winning. It was a long battle of attrition, but at last, Maxwell cut down the final one. The very moment we were safe I nearly jumped on top of the one I had gotten myself, the one I had severed the spine of. It wasn''t dead yet, it had been lying there paralyzed and unable to move so I put it out of its misery with a quick stab of my claws through its head before I had even realized I had shifted. I tore into the large barrel of the zebra ripping its ribcage open to get them out of my way. Most of the good meat on this isn''t in this part of the animal, it was on the back and sides of it but there was still a decent amount of good meat to eat near the ribs. I wasn''t that hungry after my encounter with the panther so I was mainly looking for its heart. I licked my chops before biting into it. It had a larger one than most of the other animals I had fought, second only to the bear and maybe the minotaur. It took several large bites but I finally finished it and once again shivered as I felt the power I gained from the monster flow through me. This time flames visibly flickered down my form for a moment before fading away. I panted and barely managed to step out of the carcass before shifting back to my human form. I didn''t get heat resistance but I think I may have gotten something slightly similar. My fur had felt slightly itchy like the properties of it changed again. The feeling reminded me of the itchy feeling I got when Luna first found that sash that improved her fire magic. It wasn''t the same though, it had a different... scent to it, for lack of a better word. I couldn''t really explain how it felt different. ("Heat resistance?") Luna asked. "No. Still hot." I replied out loud for the benefit of the others. But I followed up in more detail for Luna. ("I think it did something to my fur though. I''m not heat resistant the same way I''m cold resistant, but maybe my fur is less flammable or something.") ("I wouldn''t be surprised. Fire magic does nothing at all to them,") she replied. "The stairs up aren''t far from here," Maxwell said pointing off in the distance. I couldn''t see them from here but the fact that Maxwell was pointing at the stairs reassured me that we were close. The relief I felt was palpable. I almost wanted to skip our post-combat rest but I knew that wouldn''t fly. Everyone was too tired and hot after the fight. I slumped down on a rock and took long draws from my canteen. Aria was watching me again but averted her eyes the moment ours met. I decided to see what she was curious about. I dragged myself to my feet, then sat down cross-legged in front of her. "Do you need something?" I asked. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. She looked a bit anxious that I was sitting next to her but she didn''t run away or avert her eyes again. Now that I had come over she was looking me in the eye. "Just... I want to know why you eat the monsters," she said. I shrugged. "Eating the hearts make me stronger." "Why? How?" I shook my head. "I do not know. But it does." Her brow furrowed but she kept watching me. "Do you like it?" she asked. Hmm... I''m not sure how to answer that... I scratched the back of my head and looked away. "Not at first. But I do now... I think." "Were you an umber wolf at first or a human?" she asked. I laughed. "A human." She didn''t find it as funny as I did. She didn''t argue though she just looked at me with a concerned look. I pointed at her. "You like Maxwell," I said with a grin. She turned red and gaped at me, completely caught off guard. "What? N-no." "Easy to..." I cocked my head, unable to find a word that fit here from my limited vocabulary. "see?" She blushed and looked around at the others. "Quiet, don''t .... ...." I squinted, unable to pick up the words she used but I could guess the gist. "Piper knows, she saw it first. I told Luna. Don''t know if Maxwell knows. Hard to see. Maxwell quiet." Aria was bright red now. "You aren''t upset .... it right?" I grinned. "No. I don''t like men. I like Luna." Her eyebrows went up. "Oh... that .... .... ...." her reply trailed off into mumbles I couldn''t understand. Piper noticed us talking and came over to check us out. "You two .... .... okay?" she asked jovially. Aria gave Piper a hesitant smile. "I think so?" she said while eyeing me. I nodded. "I am good. Just hot." Piper sighed dramatically. "I know. We are almost there ...." I looked in the direction of the stairs. Soon we''ll get out of here. "I think we''re about ready," Piper said. With another swig of water, the five of us started making our way over to the stairs once again. I would have liked to say the last stretch went quickly but I would be lying. Knowing the stairs were off in the distance almost made things worse. Like when you''re exhausted but you have 1 minute left on the treadmill so you keep running at full speed even though you wanted to stop five minutes ago. I almost wanted to hug the marble stairs and it seems I wasn''t the only one because that''s what everyone started doing. The marble somehow stayed cool to the touch even in this hot atmosphere. "Let''s go," Maxwell grumbled out as he finally peeled himself away from the stairs. He was the first to start climbing. In the usual formation, we started heading up. Unfortunately, that meant that I was last. But fortunately, the heat fell away not that long after that. Maybe a quarter into the weirdly long stairs the heat disappeared and the temperature became temperate again. Temperate to our heat-soaked bodies felt downright frosty and all five of us sighed in relief once the oppressive heat was finally gone. I smiled wide when we reached the top of the stairs. There was a gentle breeze with the smell of moisture in the air from the large lakes breaking up the giant open meadows. The entire floor was locked in a perpetual golden hour, the last hour before sunset when the sky is orange and beautiful. The floor looked like it went on for miles in all directions and the only thing that looked out of place was the giant dirt road that led away from the floor stairs and off into the horizon. The floor reminded me of the large stretches of farmland you see in the middle of the United States, except there weren''t even any mountains in any direction. Just more plains as far as the eye could see in all directions. Our entire group flopped down in the grass and groaned in relief when we finally were out of that hellish hot cave. I had only barely managed to stop myself from passing out in the grass with the thought that somebody should probably keep watch. And so I only sat in the grass, rather than roll in it like my friends. I looked out at the lakes wistfully and hoped that bathing in them would be okay. I wanted a bath so bad I might actually risk it even if there are monsters inside. Chapter 48

<~> Chapter 48 It took over an hour for everyone to be back in shape to keep moving. Unlike the previous floor where you couldn''t escape the heat, I didn''t mind the slightly longer break this time. We had been going non-stop on the previous floor so everyone was pretty tired but I wanted to at least go until we could get near one of the lakes so I could bathe before crashing. And with that enticing argument, I managed to rouse everyone to at least camp near the nearest lake and tree outcropping along the dirt road. ("What kinds of monsters do we need to worry about on this floor?") I asked Luna again. It was quickly becoming one of my favorite questions every time we reached a new floor. Luna''s ears perked and she looked over at me with a smile. She''s been in a much better mood since we came to this floor even though she seemed quite groggy now. ("This floor is relatively safe as far as floors go. There are these large quadrupedal bull-like monsters that roam the plains in groups, giant hawks, and aggressive bloody rabbits.") She tapped her lip as she looked up at the clouds. ("The bulls monsters are probably the toughest but they are only aggressive when you get close to them. Sometimes they run in large herds but you can avoid them when you see them coming. The giant hawks are more of a nuisance than actually dangerous, at least for us. They will swoop down and try to take your things, especially when you camp. They also might try and dive at you but between our shields and my fire magic, we shouldn''t have any trouble scaring them off. The bloody rabbits are the monsters we''ll fight the most but they''re fairly easy to kill. They''re extremely aggressive though, they''ll often come running at you before we can even spot them. They act almost the opposite of normal rabbits in that regard. They bite hard and have strong kicks but they shouldn''t be a threat to any of us, not even Aria.") ("What about in the water?") I ask. ("Nothing to worry about in the water. There''s some fish if you''re hungry and these monstrous octopi, but those only attack you in the deeper parts of the lakes,") she said. I grinned. ("Does that mean it''s safe to bathe in the water then?") She looked back at me with an amused smile. ("Do you think you would have convinced us to push to camp near the lake if we didn''t intend to bathe in them?") I shrugged. ("I''m not sure, but it''s great to hear that there shouldn''t be any issue bathing here. I certainly need it after the last floor,") I said gesturing to my sweaty clothes. ("I''m looking forward to it. It was one of the only things keeping me going on the last floor. The trek past the eleventh floor is worse on the way down because all you have to look forward to is the cavern full of crystals. It''s pretty but that''s less of a consolation after being tortured in the heat. It is nice that there isn''t any sun there at least. The sun is setting on this floor but it''s still warm,") Luna said lifting her arm to catch the orange sun to our left. As we kept walking our trip was interrupted by a group of six bloody rabbits. They looked like giant white rabbits with bright red eyes and sharp teeth that extended out of their mouths. Our group immediately got in formation as the six rabbits charged at us without any sense of self-preservation. I chose to take a cue from the others and stand in formation around Luna holding my shield as my body shifted into its large werewolf form once again. The rabbits pelted themselves against us and just like the slimes on the maze floor, I watched as Maxwell flung one of the rabbits off of his shield then turned to catch it with his sword as it had been knocked away. I tried to follow his example a couple of times but my large axe was too unwieldy to hit them in time as they flung themselves away at high speeds before trying to dash at us from a new direction. After three attempts, I dropped the heavy axe behind me and decided to try and catch one with my claws instead. I didn''t need to worry about being burned with acid like I had before. This time when one of the rabbits heavily flung itself off my shield I managed to grab it with one hand as it tried to speed away. With an almost casual flick of my wrist, I broke the monster''s neck and dropped it in the dirt before another one could hammer itself against my shield. We managed to kill four of them before Luna''s magic flared up and burned the remaining two to death. When Luna''s magic subsided I noticed that only the ones we hadn''t managed to kill were burned up in her magic, the corpses that lay around us were left untouched. With the knowledge that the burned ones would probably be worth less than the one I had killed, I managed to push myself to go eat one of the burned ones rather than the one my instincts screamed at me that I claimed and should be my right. I couldn''t help myself and I immediately broke formation to chomp into one of the char-grilled rabbits. The smell of its singed fur wasn''t pleasant but it didn''t give me much resistance when I tore its chest open and plucked out its small heart. Like a grape, I burst the heart in one bite and shivered as a surprising amount of magic flowed into me. Two heartbeats later a strong shooting pain ran up both of my legs and I fell onto the dirt in agony. ("Helena! What''s wrong?!") Luna asked rushing to my side. Piper also ran to my side and began to examine me with her magic. My legs felt like they both cramped up at once, sending shooting pains all the way from the balls of my wolfy paw pads to my hips. ("Ffff-fuck, my legs are cramping...") Luna reached forward to touch them and hot shooting pains seared into me everywhere her hands brushed against me. ("Ah! Luna, don''t touch! It hurts!") She nearly jumped back three feet in response and I just wriggled in the dirt as the pain started to shift to a dull throb rather than the shooting pains they had been. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. This time I targeted Piper with the rings. ("It still hurts but it''s getting better...") ("Nothing seems wrong with you on my end, I''m not sure what''s happening,") she responded in a clinical tone. Part of me respected her stony unflappable tone as I squirmed on the ground. I started to pant and relax as the pain began to taper off. They still felt hurt, like I had a big bruise all over them. My legs even felt a little swollen but I wasn''t sure if that was actual swelling or just numbness that had come over them. Just as I thought the worst was over a large crack filled the air as the bones in my leg shifted, causing me to cry out in pain once again. Luckily this time the pain was sharp but fleeting and quickly changed to a dull throbbing in time with my elevated heart rate. I flopped onto my back and panted. "I- worst over..." I panted out. Piper shook her head. "I still do not see anything wrong," she said slowly, likely for my sake. Luna crouched next to me and reached down to touch my forehead. I got the sense she was trying to comfort me rather than check my temperature, something that wouldn''t really work in my wolf form. When the dull throbbing finally stopped I leaned forward and gingerly rubbed my legs. When they didn''t immediately burst into pain I put a little more pressure. They still ached but now they felt more like they were tired after a long workout instead of feeling like someone took a hammer to them. I reached out my hands. "Help me up... please." Luna took a step back and Piper and Maxwell held out their arms to lift me back onto my feet. I took a couple steps and wobbled. My center of balance felt off and my legs felt weird. I held onto the two of them and lifted my leg up only for it to bend a little bit more than I felt like it should. The large paws I had always walked on in this form were already digitigrade like a dog''s but now it felt like I was walking a little bit on stilts. I was able to lower my elevated heel to the ground which felt really weird. When I stood like this my legs... looked a bit like a rabbit''s. I closed my eyes and sighed. What the fuck. At least I wouldn''t be left wondering what this heart did. I felt like I went through a lot for that little grape of a heart I ate. I awkwardly took a few more steps before letting go of Maxwell and Piper and taking a few more steps on my own. My steps felt a little bit more... springy and agile. I took a few more bouncing steps and found that a few skips sent me flying much faster than I had been able to run before. It would take a little bit to get used to my newly altered gait but... this does seem like an upgrade, if an awkward one. ("I think I''m okay now...") I told Luna as I walked back. ("My legs still feel weird but they don''t hurt anymore.") She nodded and looked over them. I seemed around half a foot taller than I had been, which was saying something because I was already tall. It seemed like it was all in the legs though. ("Can I touch them now?") she asked curiously. ("Do you think it will still hurt when I do?") she asked. ("I don''t think so, just... be gentle. They feel weird and I don''t think my balance is normal yet.") She nodded and slowly began to feel along my legs. She stroked along the slightly repositioned and sinewy muscles of my leg. Her warm hands felt kind of good against me, kind of like a nice massage. "We should keep going," Maxwell said to us. "We have been up for a long time," he said speaking slowly. "Alright," I said before turning to look at the rabbits. It seemed that all of them had been picked up, including the one I had ripped open. Most of them were tied on Aria''s bag except for the one I had ripped open which she held in her hands, pinching the singed fur closed. Luna held my hand as I got used to my new awkward stride. It almost felt more comfortable to move faster than slower now. It would be easier to keep the momentum of running going rather than the awkward stilt steps I had to take normally now. It sorta felt like I was stuck in higher heels than I was used to. Eventually, we finally reached the side of one of the large lakes. A small copse of trees blocked most of the sun from the area we set up our camp in, leaving it in a relaxing state of dim light. I walked around collecting firewood and getting used to my new strange steps as the others hammered the tents into place and Aria began to strip and clean the rabbits. It seemed that for once I wouldn''t be the only one that would be eating this kill. I did notice that Aria kept the one I had partially ripped open off to the side and covered by a cloth to ward it from insects. Likely in case I preferred the monster rabbit''s meat raw to cooked. It would be the first time I could try it both ways! I was kind of excited. I stared down at my legs. They didn''t actually look all that different despite feeling completely different. I was really lucky I didn''t try to eat that thing in the middle of battle because I could have been killed... or, well, let''s be realistic. It could have hurt a lot if the bloody rabbits kicked me when I was down. I wiggled my still wolfish toes. It mainly looked like the internal structure of them had changed and not any of the surface details had. I didn''t have big rabbit paws attached to me, I still had big wolf feet there, they just felt weird now. I''m sure I would get used to them though, and maybe eventually I''ll like the change, perhaps after I go sprinting all out eventually. I brought back the pile of firewood I collected into the fire pit that had been dug and with a warm flash of heat, Luna started a fire right below the beginnings of a rabbit stew that Aria had started to make for us. I smiled and kissed Luna on the head. I was still determined to take a bath before we split up watches for the night. Chapter 49

<~> Chapter 49 It had been quite a long day and that was pretty evident by how quickly the five of us devoured the rabbit stew Aria had made. She seemed quite happy with the reception despite her lack of food supplies. It seems she had used some of the dry jerky to help season the stew, pretty crafty. It was the first time I was able to compare the cooked rabbit stew with the magical meat I ate raw. The ''flavors,'' if you could even call it that, were completely different. Totally night and day. The rabbit stew tasted like... well what I assume rabbit tastes like. I''ve never had rabbit before so it was hard to compare really. The raw meat on the other hand tickled my senses in a different way. Now that it was easy to compare side by side, I was compelled to agree with Luna that what I was doing when eating the meat raw did have something to do with the magic in it. It didn''t even really taste the same to me, it was deeper than that. Both were delicious but in completely different ways, though again, the rabbit didn''t stand up well to minotaur or the frost salamanders I had eaten. Not too surprising if our theory on magical content is correct. The bloody rabbits tasted above their weight class for their size and ease of gathering though. I liked them better than the barlettes anyway, even if barlettes were a lot of meat. I was brought out of my musing when Luna tugged at my pant leg. ("Helena, did you still want to go bathing together before we start night watches? Someone will have to cover for Maxwell after if we go first.") My eyes widened when I realized something. ("We''re... going to bathe as a group?") I asked. Luna raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. ("Yes?... It''s safer that way and it would take forever if we all went in by ourselves.") I blushed and looked away... I had never gone to a public bath before... I knew they had them in other countries but I''d never done anything like that... especially since I always liked girls. I never even showered off after a trip to the gym! ("Are you okay?") Luna asked with a confused tone. I met her gaze again. ("I uh, have never bathed in front of others before... so I was wondering what I should do...") Her eyebrows raised. ("You had enough money to have private baths?") I coughed. ("Ah, no, well, I mean, where I came from bathing privately was normal. All homes had private bathrooms. We didn''t have public baths except for specific places that weren''t anywhere near where I lived...") ("Huh...") Luna had a look on her face that told me she was picturing something pretty different from what I was trying to describe. I cleared my throat. ("Well, um. That doesn''t matter I guess. I''m just a little nervous to be... bathing in front of you... and the others...") She smiled at me. ("No need to be worried. Public baths are pretty common here since most homes don''t include baths. We''re all girls, nothing to be ashamed of...") she blushed a little as her eyes trailed down my body. ("Especially you...") Luna stood up and looked over at Piper to tell her something using the rings. Whatever she said greatly improved Piper''s mood because she started smiling and everyone started getting up and preparing to head over to the water together. ("Why''s Maxwell coming? I thought you said it would only be girls...") I asked Luna. ("Relax! Maxwell isn''t coming the entire way. He''s just going to go stand near the lake facing the other direction to watch out for monsters,") she said. ("Right...") Not long later the five of us made it to the edge of the lake and Maxwell sat over on a rock facing the opposite direction, everyone began to strip off their sweaty clothes. I looked around at my friends and blushed as I saw Luna starting to undo her own chest wraps. I stared down at the dirt as I started to take off my clothes. I was not comfortable right now but I also still felt disgusting, so as much as I''d like to have a nice relaxing bath I would have to settle for a tense awkward bath where I didn''t look at anyone else. I tossed my clothes in a messy pile and shifted into my wolf form to hide my nudity. A quick glance told me that the others didn''t seem nearly as modest as I felt. I walked quickly to the side of the water trying not to trip over my awkward new legs in the sand before testing the water with my foot. It was warm. It was a warm-water lake! I slipped into the lake before shifting back to my human form. As much as I''d like to maintain my modesty, I still did need to wash off all the grime after the sweaty time on the previous floor. My human form didn''t flake off the blood and sweat the same way my wolf form did. The lake was pretty shallow, which might explain why it was so warm. I was able to easily stand in the mostly waist-deep water but I crouched down a little so I could submerge myself to my neck. ("Helena! Isn''t the water nice! I was hoping to tell you about it but you kind of ran in on your own...") A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. I turned and froze at the bare-chested Luna that was wading through the water toward me. I turned away and blushed. ("Sorry, I was eager to get in the water...") She giggled once she finally got close and crouched in the water next to me. ("You''re shy, aren''t you? I''m surprised something like public nudity is enough to shake you like this.") I turned to look at her, she was thankfully, down to her neck next to me now. I didn''t have to feel like a creep who couldn''t help but ogle her. I looked away and blushed, thinking back to the brief look I saw of her beautifully shaped breasts. They were a little bigger than I had thought they would be without the wrappings or robes covering them up. I bit my lip and looked away, still unable to hide my blush. ("I''ve... never seen someone naked before. At least, not someone that wasn''t in a photo, er, picture,") I admitted. My love life had always been a series of strikes which is why it took me so long to know for sure that Luna was interested in me like that. ("Oh?") Luna asked. ("I''ve seen Piper and a few other girls naked growing up. It''s how I found out I liked girls I think. Boys never interested me, even when I had spotted them naked a few times at the river.") ("Ah... I''ve never seen a guy naked before either... but I kind of always knew that I didn''t like men. I''ve always liked the way the prettier girls looked. It took me a little while to realize what I was feeling, but the idea of dating a guy never crossed my mind.") Luna''s hand trailed up my naked back and I froze as she leaned in close to me. ("Would I count among the prettier girls you liked?") her voice in my head whispered. I gulped and turned to look at her. She had a mischievous look on her face, something I don''t think I had seen before... It was kind of hot. ("You put all those other girls to shame,") I replied. I meant it too, exotic ears and tail aside, Luna was extraordinarily pretty. If it wasn''t for some of my newfound confidence, I would think she was out of my league. She leaned against me from behind and kissed my neck as she pressed her bare breasts against my back. My breath caught in my throat as she gently wrapped her arms around my waist and held them against my stomach. I waited for her to do something else or move or something but she just held me against her. She leaned her head against my back and let out a contented breath, completely opposite of how I felt right now. ("There are times when I see you at your strongest. Tossing your axe at monsters and cleaving other monsters in half. I like it when you look like that, it makes me want you to take me. Push me down and dominate me... Then there are other times like this, when you seem like the vulnerable one. Times like this get the predator in me excited. It makes me want to tease you and play games with you, and make you chase me even harder.") Luna kissed the back of my neck again. ("Being around you excites me. I don''t know what bright feelings you''ll pull out of me next. You''re gentle and ferocious at the same time... So I want to tell you... that it''s okay if you look at me, even if your feelings are a little improper for someone who isn''t fully engaged to me... yet.") Luna waded around me and rose slightly out of the water. She was biting her lip and looking at me with intense smoldering eyes. She reached forward and cupped my face before leaning forward and kissing me. I moaned into the kiss and didn''t notice when Luna scooted forward until she pushed her bare body against me under the water. I gasped when I felt her press against me and I pulled back a little to look at her. She was smiling up at me and her fingers trailed up my jaw to rest on my cheek. ("Do you feel a little better now?") she asked me. I nodded dumbly. ("Yes...") She smiled and pressed herself back against me in the warm water, resting her head against my shoulder and hugging me from the front. I didn''t really know what to do so I wrapped my arms around her and held her in a naked embrace. It felt like my brain was short-circuiting, this was even more crazy and exciting than I had expected. This experience turned out to be a lot more than just bathing nude next to each other. Eventually, she pulled away and settled next to me where she began to wipe her body off under the water, actually taking the time to clean herself. Finally finding something that I can relate to, I start scrubbing my skin, trying to take off all the grime, blood, and sweat that had built up on me since I woke up in that cave almost two weeks ago. The last time I had anything close to a bath was on the floor with the underground lake. I glanced over at Luna who was still cleaning herself and I glanced away again with a blush. She said I could look but... I don''t know how much I''m ready for yet. This whole thing was kind of weird for me. I''d probably feel more comfortable if we had been making out first rather than bathing naked together. This wasn''t supposed to be sexual but it was hard to separate the idea from myself when the girl that I liked and obviously liked me back was rubbing the sweat off her breasts an arms-length away. Luna glanced away and I followed her gaze to the other two girls who were bathing a little ways off from us. I think the others could tell how shy I was and it was only Luna who decided to come... tease me? play with me? I was a little unsure of her motives but... I have to admit it was really sexy the way she had been pushing herself against me. ("We should probably start finishing up,") Luna said. ("All of us are tired and Maxwell still has to take his own bath. I want to take some time to clean my clothes and let them dry as well.") ("...what are you going to wear in the meantime?") I couldn''t help but ask. She turned to me and grinned. ("My underwear and chest wraps will dry quickly enough by the fire. But I wouldn''t be opposed to being held by my fianc¨¦ while my clothes dry.") I was seeing a side of Luna I hadn''t seen before... and it was appealing. ("I think I can handle that. Let''s get started on our clothes then.") I shifted to my werewolf form, picked her up, and held her naked body against mine as I walked out of the water. I headed toward the little pile of robes and armor that Luna had folded and set next to my messy pile. I was still blushing at the thought of her naked body held against mine but something about holding her like this gave me the confidence to feign ambivalence. From the mischievous smile Luna was wearing, I think she saw through me though... Chapter 50

<~> Chapter 50 I was dashing along the side of the lake at a fairly high speed. I was still getting used to the way my legs moved, each step while I was running was like a small bounding leap, one after another. While this meant that my top running speed had gone up quite considerably, it became a lot more of a challenge to control my momentum since my altered legs had me almost falling forward after each bounding step. Still, it was becoming easier to judge how long it would take me to stop from my top speed so I gradually eased myself to a stop right next to Luna who had been waiting for me in the shade of one of the trees near our camping spot. She looked a lot more refreshed after getting some sleep, everyone did. Yesterday had been gruelingly long going through the fire cave floor. We didn''t even get to sleep right away after that since I insisted on taking a bath first. I hadn''t even been able to relax properly under the circumstances either... ("How are your legs?") Luna asked. I eased myself to the ground next to the stump she was sitting on. ("Better in some ways, worse in others. This is probably the first time that eating a heart changed me in a way that I didn''t like. My old legs felt a lot more stable, even if they were slower. I felt more in control of myself.") ("Do you think you''ll get used to them or are they just worse?") I raised a foot and stretched it in front of me while wiggling my toes. ("I wouldn''t say they''re worse exactly. I hope I''ll get used to them but I still have to work at it. Being in my wolf form feels more different from my human one now though. I don''t just feel like I''m a bigger me, I have to walk differently now too.") Lowering my foot I leaned forward and looked at my legs. I thought back to when they changed and wondered how it would feel if the transformation reverted. I even visualized my legs changing back but unfortunately for me, it didn''t seem to affect anything. I sighed. It would have been nice if I could control this form of mine like that, but if I can, I don''t know how. Luna stood up and sat in the grass next to me before taking one of my legs into her arms. I tilted my head. ("What are you doing?") She smiled. ("You seem a little stiff. I thought that I could give your legs a bit of a massage. Maybe when your legs changed it affected your range of motion.") I didn''t know if it would help but the leg massage did really did feel damn good. I groaned out when she ran her strong fingers along a particularly sore muscle. ("Ah, damn, that feels really good, Luna.") Smiling, she kept at it. She glanced behind me and following her line of sight, I realized that my tail was wagging. I blushed a little but I couldn''t stop it. It was moving completely on its own, I hadn''t even noticed it. ("Your tail is certainly being honest. I''m glad that it''s helping.") She giggled a little before switching legs and focusing on the other one. I leaned back and practically drooled as Luna''s magic fingers found all of the knots and loosened the tight muscles in my legs. I''d never gotten a leg massage before but it felt amazing. ...It made me wonder what other parts of my body are tense. Maybe I could convince her to give me a back massage sometime too. Hopefully I can return the favor. Piper walked over and sat on the stump that Luna had abandoned. "So, how are your legs?" she asked out loud. "Goooood," I groaned out. She snickered. "I mean after your ...." I wasn''t sure what she said but I got the gist. I frowned and answered with the rings. ("They still feel odd. It''s easier to build up speed but it''s harder to stop my momentum. It''s like they want to keep going. I feel faster but it''s harder to stop on a dime,") I replied. She shrugged. ("I don''t know what a dime is, but that sounds good overall. A lot of speed for a little bit of control. You should try and answer me more without the rings though. I still have slime cores but you need to practice speaking more if you want to learn our language.") I sighed. "I know. It is hard to speak when I do not know enough words yet," I replied. "That''s why you need to practice more," Piper said with a grin. At least it didn''t feel all that different to speak in my wolf form. Somehow making the noises I wanted to make came naturally. Using my legs used to feel natural too. Luna put my other leg on the ground and I stretched. They really did feel better now, maybe there was something to the idea that they were stiff after they changed. I stood up and bounced on the balls of my feet a bit. I think I was starting to get used to it but it still felt a bit like wearing high heels. My weight was a bit more focused on a smaller area rather than being supported by my whole foot. I didn''t exactly hate high heels but I rarely wore them. I lifted my leg and balanced on one foot while I grabbed the other one and stretched out my thigh. When I finished I switched to the other one and stretched out that thigh too. It still felt awkward to walk but it wasn''t as bad. Funnily enough, I need more practice walking slowly rather than running. Going fast and arresting my momentum will take some getting used to but that didn''t feel as strange. Walking with such deliberate steps did. I just hoped that I''ll get used to it as we moved on. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Luna and I followed Piper back to the other two who were finishing packing up the tents. Everyone gave me a bit of time to work out the new kinks on my new legs while they took a break but it was about time to get moving. Most of the remaining floors shouldn''t take that long to get through, but we were still on a time limit. Maxwell was in charge of the time though and he didn''t seem all that worried about it yet. I am a little anxious about eating more of the monster hearts that we came across now. While none of them have been strictly detrimental to me yet, this last change came close. Until now I was operating under the impression that eating the hearts would have no downsides but now I wasn''t as sure. I pondered the idea while we got the last of our stuff loaded up and we walked back to the road to get moving. There was something I wanted to check out though. ("Hey Luna, can I have my blindfold? I want to see what this floor looks like with it on.") ("Sure, but don''t stay in your human form long. You still need to practice walking more since you''re not used to your legs.") Luna bent over her pack and dug through it before pulling out the blindfold and handing it over to me. I hadn''t washed it with the rest of my clothes but I also took it off pretty quickly before it got drenched in sweat. I tied it over my eyes again and acclimated to the change in sight I had. The glowing rock I had tied to my belt still gave off the "magical light" for lack of a better term but because of the open nature of this floor, it faded off after a distance. Maybe six or seven yards. Like other floors of the dungeon, there was magical light coming from everything including the ground and trees, but only the things within the magical light of the rock on my belt were in focus if that made sense. Satisfied with my observations I shifted back into my werewolf form and rested my axe on my shoulder. I walked along matching my pace to my friends and tried to get used to the new balance of my steps. We walked for a good thirty minutes before anything interesting happened. One of those big hawks started trying to dive-bomb me. It swooped in and tried to scratch me with its talons. It had done three runs, luckily only targeting me, before I finally managed to snatch it out of the air by its neck. With a flick of my wrist, I broke the bird''s neck and it lay limp in my hand. The bird was large but it wasn''t huge or anything. Definitely on the larger end of what birds should be on earth but not so large it''s unreasonable or even particularly monstrous. "Well, are you going to eat it?" Piper asked. I glanced at her and frowned before turning back and looking down at the bird in my hands. "What if it does something... like the rabbit did to me?" I didn''t know the word for strange or weird so I just left it out. I felt a bit of a thrum of my instincts to tear out its heart but it wasn''t overwhelming since the fight hadn''t been much of a challenge. Annoying more than anything else. Piper just shrugged at my question. "Nothing else you have eaten has been a problem yet," Maxwell said. Aria gave us a bit of a strange look as we casually discussed eating a monster''s heart. Luna touched my arm. ("I think you should eat it. Even if the changes the bloody rabbit gave you weren''t all upside, I think it was still a positive change overall. None of the hearts you''ve eaten have been detrimental, so I think it''s safe. Are your instincts still telling you to eat it?") I looked at the bird and unconsciously licked my chops. ("Yes, my instincts want me to eat it.") Luna nodded. ("I think you should trust them then. Go ahead.") I gave her a bit of a sideways glance. It seemed odd that she was pushing this so much but I supposed being in support of making myself stronger wasn''t that weird. I hope I wasn''t triggering some weird desires in her though, that was the last thing I wanted to deal with. Shaking my head, I sighed. ("Fine. I''ll eat it. Hopefully this doesn''t cause as many problems as the last one did.") I pushed my thumbs into the bird''s chest and tore it open. The bird felt fragile to me, it wasn''t a challenge at all to rip it open and find the heart. I plucked out the heart and ate it, taking a moment to bite into it before swallowing it down. I wobbled for a moment before feeling slightly lighter on my toes. I bounced on the balls of my feet a couple times, but otherwise felt normal. ("Any changes?") Luna asked. I shrugged. ("I feel... lighter? I don''t feel that much different.") I reached over and pinched the bones in my wrist to see if they were more fragile or something but everything seemed normal. I just mysteriously felt lighter and that was the extent of the change. I turned my attention back to the hawk and took a bite of some of the meat I had torn past to get to the heart. It tasted decent. I would say it tastes like chicken but I''ve never eaten magical raw chicken before so I had nothing to compare it to. I could tell there was magic in the meat though because it didn''t taste gross the way that the raw deer did, these hawks were in fact monsters, not just big aggressive animals. Good to know I guess. ("At least I didn''t grow wings or talons or something weird,") I said to Luna. She cocked her head to the side and smiled. ("You wouldn''t want to try flying with wings?") Actually... ("The idea of that doesn''t sound that bad. I don''t know if hawk wings would lift me even if they were big enough though. Birds have specific anatomy that makes them able to fly.") She shrugged. ("Well, you''re like a magical creature. There are plenty of monsters that can fly even though they shouldn''t be able to. I wouldn''t put it past your wolf body to be among them.") That''s... another great point actually. Well, I don''t think I''m ready to chalk everything up to magic bullshit yet but if I magically became able to fly I''d be willing to forgive some magic bullshit for that. Chapter 51

<~> Chapter 51 This floor was relaxing. Another word for it though would be boring. This floor has almost entirely been one large road the entire way with almost nothing interesting on it. We''ve come across a few groups of those murderous bloody rabbits and every now and then a hawk swooped out of the sky to dive-bomb me, but for the most part, it''s been pretty dull. Some three or four hours into our walk we came across a sign in the road. I tapped Luna gently on the arm and pointed to it. ("What does that say?") She shrugged. ("No one actually knows, if it''s a real language it''s not one from this world. I would have believed it to be meaningless before meeting you but now I''m not sure.") ("Does the sign lead anywhere?") I looked off in the direction that the fork in the road led to. It looked like more endless plains that way as well. It didn''t look that much different than the direction we were already headed. ("You should ask Maxwell,") Luna told me. ("We''ve never gone that way before, we usually pass this floor pretty quickly since there''s not much on it.") "Maxwell, where does that lead?" I asked, pointing at the sign. He looked off in that direction before answering. ".... monsters. Not worth our time though." I looked at Luna who correctly guessed the word I needed help with. ("Variant monsters. Kind of like the giant bat we fought on the fifteenth floor. Probably just a larger bloody rabbit or one of those bull-like monsters I told you about.") ("I never got to eat one of those yet.") ("I know, but we''ll cross a herd of them before we make it to the next floor. We almost always do. No need to look for fights when these monsters aren''t worth anything and we''re already carrying back a huge load of stuff,") Luna replied. I nodded as we continued past the sign. At least the entire dungeon floor isn''t just one big road but I''m a little disappointed I won''t get to see more of it. This floor is a bit of a disappointment but at least it isn''t making me wanna die like the previous one. It was a little funny to think that dangerous was quickly becoming preferable to me over boring and peaceful though. What does that say about my mental state? I was taking long careful steps, still getting used to my altered legs. They were quickly becoming second nature to walk on but they still felt a bit weird at this point. It was strange that this change was so different from the previous ones. Another three or four hours passed as we continued walking down the long boring road past every boring sign that we didn''t follow. It was hard to tell time when the sun literally wasn''t moving in the sky. It was just permanently sundown here. It kind of reminded me of a story my mom once told me about driving through Alaska in the summer. She was just going to drive till sundown but she didn''t realize that the sun never fully set that time of year. The best they had was twilight. She kept going for hours before she finally looked at a clock. We''ve only been going for somewhere between six and eight hours so we were planning on going a bit further until we stopped to make camp. Luckily before that happened something interesting finally happened. I spotted a herd of those... bison monsters? off in the distance. Luna had called them bull-like and I could see why she said that but they looked more like bison to me. ("How many of them do you see?") Luna asked. "I can not tell," I replied out loud. "Many," I added. Luna frowned. ("The problem with these monsters is sometimes they attack in such large herds that they can be quite challenging to fight. And once their herd starts attacking you, like most monsters they continue fighting until one of your groups are dead.") "Is there a better way of... deciding how many there are?" I struggled to say. Piper cut in, "Send a scout. We should send you or Aria to see how many of them are there. We might need to continue past them if there are too many." I knew Piper was trying to restrict her vocabulary to words I knew but I was pleased that I understood that entire string of words. I was getting better at their language. I rose up as far as possible and sniffed the air. We were upwind of them, probably not close enough to spook them but it meant that scouting may take a while. I couldn''t catch their scent from here. "They are still far from us," I said. "It would take... time." "I can go," Aria volunteered. ".... a scout ...." Aria unlike the rest of the group hasn''t been trying to compensate for me the same way the others have. Sometimes her words were hard to follow. They often sounded mumbled or smooshed together so it was harder for me to understand her. It was probably good practice to try to piece things together without help but it also made things a little frustrating when we were talking about important stuff. I understood the gist though. "What if Aria needs help?" I asked. "Do you think the two of you could go together?" Piper asked. I looked at her and shrugged. She looked at me hesitantly but nodded. Maxwell reached up to rub the ring on his finger for a moment but it looks like he decided not to hand it over to her. It seems we would be going on our duo scout mission without the ability to fully communicate. For this though, we should be able to get by on hand signals. I''ve watched them do them enough that I could mostly understand those too. Let''s hope Aria doesn''t make it too hard on me though. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Weighing the axe in my hand I decided I didn''t want to take it with me for this. It was heavy and my claws should be sufficient. "Maxwell, can you take my axe please?" "Sure." He accepted the axe from me with a little bit of difficulty but he didn''t have any trouble carrying it. I don''t know if he would be able to actually use it in a fight the way I did but at least I could leave it with him without the man tipping over. "What about the shield?" He asked. I adjusted it on my back and shook my head. "No, it doesn''t... get in the way." I wanted to say it didn''t disrupt my movements but that was the best I could do with the words I knew. I tightened the cord so it wouldn''t shift around as much and started heading off with Aria. I moved to all fours so that I could better take in the scents on the wind. The wind direction didn''t change much either so at least it was predictable. My gait on all fours felt a little bit different but not as bad as when I walk on two legs. Not enough for it to be distracting. "You look .... like that," Aria commented. I glanced at her. "I can not help it. I need to be low to the ground to take in the smells better." "Why did you .... up earlier then?" I wonder what she said, stretch up maybe? "I wanted to see if their smell was on the wind." She nodded in understanding. "I .... carry something to hide my .... from monsters. That way I only have to worry about being seen. I .... have any though." I repeated one of the words I didn''t understand. "Does that mean smells?" "Oh, yes. Scent. Sorry, I forget sometimes that you .... know all the words I use. .... learning so quickly that I usually think you just have a .... .... Er, have trouble speaking." Well, most of what I understood of that was complimentary so that''s nice. She''s not making things easy on me though. "Hold on," she said raising a hand. She pointed to some grass in front of us. "Those .... .... too much if you step on them. Make sure you avoid walking there." I nodded and followed her around the patch of dry-looking foliage. We''d been moving perpendicular to the monsters for a while to make sure they don''t smell us on the wind too easily as we approached but now we''re probably good to move in closer and find out how many of them there are. The two of us crept closer through the tall grass toward them. "I .... see well here," she said. I looked around and saw a few trees off in the distance. I tapped her shoulder and pointed. "Good ...." she replied. I hoped she said something like good idea and not something like good doggy. After a little bit of time, we were able to approach the trees but they didn''t look very good. Now that we were closer they looked dry and dead, I doubt they would support my weight if I tried to climb one of them. But without a word of warning Aria scrabbled up the tree, her little striped tail flicking back and forth behind her. I winced at every subtle crack and creak of the tree I heard as she climbed up to get a better look. She paused on one of the branches and looked over the crowd of bison a short distance away. Then the groaning sounds I was hearing in the tree started turning to cracking and tearing sounds. The branch she was on was going to break. "Aria, get down! Quickly!" I hissed at her. I couldn''t be too loud because we were trying to hide from the bison but I needed her to listen to me before¡ª CRACK The entire tree started to split down the middle all the way from the roots to the branch she was standing on. Half of the tree started splitting off and further cracks and crunches started exploding down the trunk. I had been worried at first for Aria but she gracefully rode the tree down before jumping off and landing perfectly on her feet. I would have even applauded if it wasn''t for the herd of bison that was already running our way. "Run!" Aria yelled. "There''s too many! More than twenty!" Her words were intermixed with a bunch of other words that I couldn''t understand but I could understand that bit. I started to run but when I turned to see if Aria was keeping up with me... she wasn''t. Her awkwardly fitting gear was getting in her way and slowing her down. She was huffing and puffing but she wasn''t going to make it on her own, she was too slow. I cursed to myself and spun around to go back for her. I sprung forward on my new legs and made it back to her in a flash. Her eyes widened on my approach and she almost looked like she was going to piss herself right before I scooped her up and held her against my chest like a child. She was kind of child-sized relative to me. The bison monsters were close now though, the time it took to come back for Aria had given them a lot of time to catch up. There was a cloud of dust in the air where they trampled everything in their path to get to us. I bounded forward away from the herd of bison. I was able to quickly put distance between us with my new legs and maintain it. After a few seconds of running Aria started slapping me on the back though. "We .... go this way! Lead the monsters away from our group!" she yelled in my ear. She didn''t have to yell, my ear was right next to her but it was good advice so I''ll let it slide. I started to curve away from where my friends were at. Because of the momentum I had built up, it wasn''t as sharp of a turn as I would have liked but it was hard to complain about my legs when they were probably the only reason I was outrunning the herd of bison behind me right now. I glanced back and saw that they were still chasing me, they had started curving away from their old path to continue to follow me. "It is good that we are not going to run into our friends but now what?" I asked the catgirl I was pinning to my chest. Just as I finished saying that a giant fireball exploded behind us. I glanced back to see the crowd of monsters thin out considerably and scatter into a few different directions. I skidded to a stop and started heading back toward the group of bison. "Hey! Hey! Where are we going!" Aria screamed in my ear. Luna had used a large spell on the herd that was following me and I could tell from here that many of them were instantly killed in the blast. Aria said that around twenty or more were following us but between the explosion and the groups that were headed off in other directions, I suddenly didn''t hate the odds as much as I had before. I gripped onto Aria''s armor and threw myself back at the group of bison. The smell of cooked meat wasn''t bad. Chapter 52

<~> Chapter 52 "Hey! If you''re turning around put me down somewhere!" Aria yelled out. I frowned. She had a point. It would be hard to fight them if I had my hands full with her. Off to the side was a tree that looked less dead than the last one. It shouldn''t be too tough to get there before too many of the remaining bison started chasing me. When I suddenly turned around many of the bison got confused and started bumping into each other. Weakness! I almost had to bite my tongue to keep myself on track but it would be too hard to fight them and keep Aria safe at the same time. This one on the edge of their group was easy enough though. The claws on my right hand ripped through the neck and shoulder of one of the bison as I ran past. The monster toppled over onto other ones making them all fall over themselves. It had been my feral instincts pushing me to take advantage of the weakness any way I could but it ended up buying me more space between the bison that were still chasing me. That time turned out to be key when I made it to the tree I had been headed to. I stumbled to a stop, nearly tripping over my awkward legs before putting Aria down next to it. Without another word, she quickly scrambled up the tree and I took off again after the bison. As I ran toward the surviving monsters I could count eight bodies in the charred grass. If Aria''s guesstimate of twenty of them had been correct, then roughly six had run off in other directions and six were in the herd still chasing me, five now that I had killed one of them already. I was quickly picking up speed and was already back up to my top speed in a flash. I could probably push myself to go even faster, but any faster than this and I would have trouble turning and stopping myself from stumbling. I hurtled past one of them and let my claws do the work of slicing through one of the ones on the outward edge of the running herd. I didn''t immediately kill it like the previous time but it still stumbled into the others making the group of five stumble around. I slowed myself to a more reasonable jog and approached them from behind this time. More explosions ignited and sent shockwaves through the air off in the distance. They didn''t sound like they were localized in one spot so I didn''t worry. I believed my friends could handle themselves. Turning my forward momentum into a leap, I jumped and nearly overshot the monsters. I will need to practice leaping more, it came more naturally to these legs than I had expected. Dumb of me to underestimate them considering they had come from rabbits, but it just wasn''t something that occurred to me right away. I may have died if I had landed roughly right in front of them. Instead, I landed just behind them and was able to bounce my momentum right onto one of their backs. Grabbing the bison''s horns I yanked its head to the side and bit deep into its neck before ripping the side of its throat out. The bison stumbled immediately and I had to leap off of the monster to avoid being flipped forward with it. The remaining four in this group slowed to a stop and turned to face me. One of them was leaking blood down its side where I had raked it with my claws, but it didn''t act like it was injured at all. They stood still and watched me for a long moment before bellowing and charging at me again as a group. I dashed away, picking up speed as I circled them. I didn''t want to risk myself in a direct test of strength. These things were large enough that even I had to be careful of being trampled by them, even in my wolf form. I continued to play hit and run, whittling away the last of them as fiery explosions killed all of the stragglers. Running as fast as I could to circle around the beast, I managed to repeat my stunt from earlier and land on the last of the bisons'' back. Like before, I jerked its head to the side with its horns and ripped its throat out before jumping off the monster as it tumbled over. I ripped a piece of meat from the chunk of flesh I tore out and swallowed it before tossing away the rest, whetting my appetite. I glanced around and didn''t see any more, off in the distance I saw my group gathering near the tree I had left Aria in. Good, that meant that they were likely not hurt. I crouched down over my spoils and tore into the carcass. I enjoyed the flavor despite the paltry mana inside of it. It had a rich and meaty flavor, it would have been second only to the minotaur if not for the lacking mana. I ate my fill and tore through the chest cavity until I found what I was looking for. THE HEART My body shook in pleasure as my teeth tore into the large fleshy muscle. A warmth spread through my entire body as the magic flowed through me. My muscles rippled and then suddenly cramped up. It only lasted a moment, unlike the agonizing change to my legs, and as quickly as the pain had come it passed. When I stood back up I felt a bit bulkier, my muscles looked even more toned than before. I stretched and was happy to find that I hadn''t lost any range of motion despite looking a bit more jacked. I couldn''t help but grin, I was coming to love this strange body of mine more and more. I turned back toward the group and dashed over to them to see how everyone was doing after the fight. My legs felt stronger than before too, not that it helped me steer any better. On the way I decided to take a running leap to see how far I could go and I actually got butterflies in my stomach from the sudden vertigo. After my slightly awkward landing, I decided to put off any more testing for later. ("Helena!") Luna was waving to me from her place next to my tree and I skidded to a stop nearby. Her eyes lit up as they trailed over my body and the intensity made me blush. I shifted back to my human form and stumbled when I looked over myself. It wasn''t just my werewolf form that looked more muscular than it had before. I wasn''t so muscular that it looked gross or anything but my muscles were definitely more defined than they had been. ("Is everyone alright?") I asked. ("Yeah... I see you found their heart,") she said as her eyes continued to trail my body. I may have been worried about how quiet she was if it wasn''t for her slightly wagging tail. I walked up closer and pulled her into a hug. "Do you like it?" I said with an amused grin. She blushed and looked up at me. ("Yeah... you already looked fit before but now...") She bit her lip. I grinned wider before leaning in and kissing her. She melted into it and pulled me closer, even her long tail had wrapped around my waist. She must really like my new look. I''d... have to investigate myself more the next time I stripped down. "Okay you two, that is enough," Piper said with a snarky smile. "We are making camp here for today." The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "Still hungry?" Maxwell asked me. He was crouched over one of the bison Luna had blown up earlier. He had already half-skinned the giant thing by the time I had made it back. I shrugged. "A small amount. I can eat some." He nodded and kept working. Lingering near me was Aria who was looking at me a bit nervously. I wasn''t sure what I had done this time but she looked like she wanted to talk. "Helena... Thank you for coming back for me... when the .... were chasing us. I .... think you would risk yourself to .... me. So, thank you." I smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "No problem, Aria. I am glad you are okay." She smiled at me. "Your eyes still .... me ...." I didn''t catch some of the words but I got the idea. I shrugged. "I cannot change that... I think. I will just have to keep wearing this," I said tapping my blindfold. We spent the next few hours eating our fill of roasted bison meat and chatting. I did my best to listen in on the conversation, trying to pick up new words while everyone else relaxed after the fight. Maxwell was pretty sure that we were close to the end of the floor already which was good news. There weren''t any more problematic floors until we reached floor six, the lost halls that I''ve been told a little bit about. After that, the last five floors could all be traversed in a day. Since most people stopped at floor five, fewer monsters were roaming around since so many people actively hunted them. Even if we ran across something tricky like an elite, there would be plenty of people who would be dying to take over for us. The monsters were slowly declining in their mana content so milling around for monster hearts would probably not be worth it. I didn''t like the idea of my werewolf form being seen that close to the surface either, in case there ended up being a problem. I squeezed Luna who had been leaning on me while quietly listening in on the conversation. Occasionally she had said something to me through the rings but for the most part, she seemed content to just share my warmth. I tapped her on the shoulder and she looked up at me. I blushed as I worked up some courage. ("Do you want to... take another bath tonight?") I asked her. Her mouth quirked into a grin and her eyes trailed along my arms. ("And miss a chance to see how much your body has changed?") My blush intensified as I pictured her looking at me naked. I was probably being a bit too modest right now but it''s a hard habit to shake when I kind of grew up as a fat girl. It hadn''t been until I was deep into working out for the triathlon that I had finally started feeling comfortable with how I looked. Part of me was still a bit insecure about being seen naked even though I knew I didn''t look nearly as bad as I used to. I cleared my throat. "Can we take another bath? Since we will leave the floor tomorrow?" Piper and Maxwell both looked at each other and shrugged and then Piper looked across the fire at me. "I do not want another bath yet. Do you think you could hear a monster coming while taking a bath?" Piper was intentionally talking slower for me so I could make out all of her words. I considered the idea. I don''t think I would have any trouble with anything but the bison monsters but even those I could outrun. We''d have to double back for our equipment since we''d be naked but I don''t think that''ll be a problem. "I can probably do that. Luna?" I asked turning to her. She nodded and smiled at me. ("Let''s do it! Just the two of us.") The tone she finished with made me shiver. Luna was quickly becoming more confident and was starting to learn how to push my buttons. Clearing my throat again I nodded to Piper. "The two of us will go. Luna will signal if anything is wrong." Piper suddenly had a mischievous grin on her face. "Have fun you two!" Her implication made me blush but I mean... that wasn''t far from the truth was it? We were both going to be naked in a second... Luna tugged at my wrist and brought me out of my embarrassing thoughts. ("Come on, let''s go while we have the chance.") She glanced at Aria who''s eyes were now fixed on Maxwell. ("It also looks like we might be giving someone else some room to advance their relationship as well.") I suddenly coughed, caught off guard by her words. Not by the implication of Aria getting closer to Maxwell, but by the implication that we were about to advance our relationship. I didn''t know what Luna was expecting but I wasn''t planning on going that far! ("Will you carry me? The lake is a little far...") she asked. I looked down at her, she had a smirk on her face. ("Are you jealous that I was carrying Aria earlier?") ("Maybe...") she replied with a sly smile. I laughed and shifted to my werewolf form. I picked her up and took a close look at her. ("At least you''re honest about how you feel. I like that about you.") It seems my words caught her off guard because she was suddenly blushing and averting her gaze. Her hands trailed across the muscular torso of my werewolf form. I didn''t hate this... Chapter 53

<~> Chapter 53 Now that I was near the lake, a lot of the false bravado I had before was gone and I was feeling nervous about the prospect of being naked in front of my girlfriend again. It hadn''t taken long to get over here and I didn''t hear any monsters around. The hardest ones to detect would be the dumb hawks that liked to dive-bomb me but those aren''t particularly threatening either. I perked my ears for the sound of any monsters all the same. I set Luna down and shifted back to my human form. Glancing at her, I saw she was already stripping out of her robes and neatly folding them into a pile. I looked away and blushed as I started to strip myself naked as well. We wouldn''t need to wash anything this time, we had done that last time and frankly, the clothes were probably just going to get dirty again. It wasn''t like we could change our clothes regularly down here. I might choose to carry more underclothes with me in the future though. Shaking my head I finished undressing. I was getting lost in my thoughts because I was nervous I think. I spied another peek at Luna and found that she was just watching me undress now which only made me blush more. Deciding to get it over with I finished stripping and came over to her. She glanced at my body but I didn''t get the feeling that it was an overly sexual look, more like a curious glance. The two of us walked down the short beach and dipped into the warm pool of water. Luna didn''t decide to go far, she went a little less than waist deep and sat down. Blushing I sat down next to her and stared at the permanently orange sky. ("It''s pretty here, isn''t it? I enjoy being on this floor, even though it isn''t very lucrative. The dungeon is a pretty wonderous place.") Luna relaxed into the warm water and leaned back a little. I smiled and followed her gaze to the frozen sunset off in the distance. ("It is pretty amazing. Though I found the crystals on the floor-before-last more impressive.") ("Those are pretty amazing as well,") she agreed. There was a moment of relaxed silence and I took the opportunity to wash some of the blood and sweat off of me. It was becoming a bit old how often I had to clean blood off myself now. ("Helena... can I ask you something?") Luna asked. I turned to look at her with a sheepish smile on my face. ("That kind of question scares me, but sure.") She turned to look at me too, her gaze once again traveling across my body before landing back on my face. I blushed at the thought of her checking me out like that. ("I''m a little curious why you''re so modest. You seem almost... ashamed of your body, but I think you look great.") I looked down at myself. My body did look kind of amazing now, even more so than when I first arrived in the dungeon. I was looking pretty muscular but I still had a hint of fat in the right places that kept me looking feminine despite that. As much as I was a tomboy I didn''t really want to look like a dude either, and even after the last change that packed even more muscle on my body I still thankfully looked like a woman. I looked back up at the sunset and frowned. ("I... didn''t always used to look like this. I told you earlier about the competition I had been training for right?") Luna bobbed her head at me so I continued, ("Well... before that, I didn''t use to exercise, like, at all. And I didn''t really eat very well either. Lots of junk food.") ("What''s junk food?") she asked. ("Junk food is like... cheap and really tasty food but it''s kind of bad for you and has a lot of empty carbohydrates. Oh, those are like grains and sugars... Anyway, before I started training for the triathlon I weighed a lot more, I had been borderline obese. I used to be shorter before whatever the umber hound did to me too so that much weight was... extremely unhealthy. I wasn''t really concerned about it before but I probably would have gotten really sick because of it when I got older. I don''t like to think about how bad I was at the time, I had just been rejected by this person I liked, a co-worker, and it made me depressed. Even recently I told myself I was ''only a little chubby'' after I quit that job but I was just bullshitting myself. I weighed way too much and I needed to lose weight. I had been overweight for a long time, all through high school. I broke myself out of the depression spiral I was in after that rejection by training for the triathlon. I committed to a pretty ridiculous training regimen because I wouldn''t have been able to complete it otherwise. Dieting was almost worse than the exercise was but I was determined to compete in that triathlon, not even win, just make it through. By the time that umber hound dragged me here I had lost around forty pounds in only six months and combined with the weight training I did, I looked great... probably for the first time in my life.") Luna glanced at me. ("I can''t even imagine you being that large... How did you get anything done while weighing that much?") ("Where I came from all I had to do was study mostly. My mom made enough money to put me through college so I just... went to school and tolerated it. The work I did was mostly retail so it was a little bit of walking and moving mostly light things around. It wasn''t difficult work. I was used to being the ''fat girl'' but the teasing and mean comments bothered me so much that I... didn''t like showing my body off to other people. I often wore baggy clothes and loose sweatshirts to hide how chubby I was... I almost had a panic attack the first time I started training at the pool in the gym. There were other overweight people there and the gym is a place where you''re meant to lose weight and workout, but I couldn''t stop myself from feeling like everyone was going to laugh at me. I ended up going home the first time and trying again a week later. It was only because I knew I had to practice swimming for the triathlon that made me finally get past my nerves and do it. No one laughed and it was okay but I still remember how scared I was...") Luna''s hand reached out and took mine under the water. I smiled and squeezed it. ("I''m not used to being attractive or strong. I had only started looking better recently and then whatever that umber hound did to me made me look even better. I didn''t notice it at first but I''m taller and more muscular than before too, and now I look even stronger after that last heart... So... to answer your question, up until very recently, I was ashamed of my body and it was only within the last few weeks that I''m... not as disgusted with myself. I''m still a little shy though, I''m not used to the attention.") If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ("Does it bother you when I look at you?") Luna asked. She was trailing her thumb across my knuckles as we both gazed ahead. ("I... No, I don''t think so... It is a bit embarrassing but I like it when you look at me like that... Do you think I''m attractive?") Luna leaned her naked shoulder against mine. ("I do. Very much so. I think you''re the most attractive woman I''ve ever met. But I may be a bit biased, you''re also a very kind person who''s saved my life at least twice.") My face felt hot and I couldn''t look at her without feeling like I would burst into flames. Instead, I squeezed her hand. ("O-oh,") was all I could manage to reply. I leaned back against her shoulder and let my emotions settle. ("I think you''re beautiful too, you''re stunning. And your cute ears and tail make you look even more amazing. I was really nervous that I was misreading the signals you were giving me... I''ve never had someone flirt with me the way you were... and the last time I thought it was happening I had completely misunderstood the situation.") Luna leaned forward and peeked at my face with a small grin and a hint of a blush. ("I was flirting with you harder than I had ever seen anyone flirt. I was a little worried you weren''t catching my hints at all, I had to put myself in your lap for you to realize how I felt.") I chuckled awkwardly. ("Yeah... I just really wanted to be sure. Could you imagine how awkward it would have been if I kissed you and you weren''t flirting with me though?") She trailed a finger across her lips. ("I don''t think it would have been that bad.") I rolled my eyes. ("Sure") Luna scooted back behind me. ("Let me wash your back. Your big muscles must make it hard to reach.") I laughed. ("I''m actually plenty flexible but I won''t refuse a pretty girl rubbing my back.") She pushed water up my back and traced along it with her delicate fingers. The subtle massage felt nice and I closed my eyes as she ran her hands up and down. ("Helena... Thanks for telling me all this. I wasn''t sure how to interpret how you were acting and I was a little afraid you were worried about getting closer to me. Where we come from, bathing with friends and family is seen as... somewhat of a bonding ritual. I''ve been trying not to push you, or make you feel like you have to come to a fast decision about our engagement, but I do worry about you turning me down still... We haven''t known each other for long but I want you to know that I hope you accept me.") I turned around and stared into her eyes. The white glow of my eyes reflected the blue in hers like glittering gems. ("Luna... I''d like to think I''m a pretty straightforward person. I''m not the best with relationships and... to be honest, you''re the first person I''ve ever been in this kind of relationship with before at all. I am a little nervous and worried... but it''s because I''m afraid I''ll mess something up. I really do like you a lot. I wouldn''t avoid something like this because I don''t want to get closer to you, in fact, I only want to get closer to you. I don''t like people who play with other people''s emotions and try to manipulate them, so I promise you that''s never what I''m doing. I... might not be ready to promise you that we''ll get married yet but it''s because I''m not ready for it, not because there''s something wrong with you.") Luna hugged me from behind and I locked up for a second when I realized her bare breasts were pressing against my back. Her voice came through the rings like a whisper. ("Okay. I''ll trust you. Can I talk to you if something like this happens again?") ("Please do,") I replied. ("There will probably be lots of things I don''t know about, customs and mores I don''t understand. Just be patient with me and explain things to me if you think I''m missing something.") ("Then you need to promise to do the same. Tell me if I''m doing something that isn''t to your tastes and suggest things that could bring us closer. Tell me more about the customs of your people. And... promise me that if you''re ready to become engaged, that you won''t leave me waiting.") I turned to face her despite my hesitancy to be seen nude. Despite my blushing cheeks, I focused my gaze on her face. ("I promise.") She scooted forward and pulled me into a kiss. Our naked bodies pressed up against each other but it distracted me from the intensity of the kiss for only a moment. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her closer to me before deepening our kiss further. We made out naked in the shallows of the lake for longer than I thought I would enjoy. When she finally pulled away and rested her head on my shoulder I didn''t feel as nervous about being naked around her anymore. I would still probably blush and be shy when she looked at me but I felt a bit closer to her now. Luna leaned up and placed another kiss on my cheek before smiling up at me. ("Can I ask you to wash my back now? It''s customary to offer after I washed yours.") I grinned down at her. ("Sure, I would love to.") We spent a while longer at the lake just the two of us. When we finally returned to camp together, everyone was wondering where the hell we had been for so long. I couldn''t help but laugh it off and tell them I had enjoyed the water too much, but I was glad that the two of us had gotten to spend that much time alone. I felt closer to Luna than ever now. Chapter 54

<~> Chapter 54 The rest of the floor went without incident. We ended up staying on this floor for a total of two nights but the first night was after our grueling trek through the hot floor, so that only kind of counts. We still had to deal with occasional attacks from the bloody rabbits and those annoying hawks but for the most part, the trip to the stairs was quiet and without incident. I took one last look at the artificial sunset over the beautiful lakes of the tenth floor and followed the group up the stairs. Eventually all of us reached the top of the stairs and the scents that met me were ones of oil, brass, and grease. The sounds of clicking, ticking, and tocking filled this place and it took me a minute to adjust to all of the sounds coming from all different directions. This floor seems to be a maze-like floor similar to the bloody halls but with dark oiled brass and steel for walls instead of rusted metal. In a way, the two floors seem like they may be connected. The walls here are made of interconnected gears and springs all moving in a rhythmic clicking that could look similar to the bloody halls if the parts had been left to rust away. I shook my head in irritation. "I will not be able to hear the monsters on this floor. Too noisy." My friends looked at each other in confusion. "What do you mean?" Maxwell asked. I twisted my ears back to dampen the sound and rubbed my eyes. "There is lots of noise all around us. No one sound is loud but there are a lot." Maxwell, Piper, and Aria started having a conversation but I was honestly too distracted to listen in. ("Are you okay, Helena?") Luna asked. ("It''s not too bad, I''ll probably get used to it but the noise is a little irritating. It''s not giving me a headache the same way it did when I first got my improved hearing but it is very annoying.") ("Would being in your human form help?") I sighed. ("Unfortunately, I don''t think so. My hearing isn''t as good in my human form but it''s good enough that there wouldn''t be much difference. I''ll be fine, I just need to power through it.") I cleared my throat and got everyone''s attention. "I will be okay but I will not be able to hear the monsters coming." Everyone nodded and Maxwell pointed Aria out. "You will be our scout on this floor then. The .... on this floor aren''t that dangerous." I turned to Luna. ("What kind of monsters are on this floor? What did he say?") ("Clockwork monsters. They''re moving pieces of metal made to look like humans and a few other creatures. They can be dangerous if you aren''t careful but they''re fairly fragile. The biggest issue with them is that they move in unpredictable ways sometimes. Unfortunately, there are no living monsters for you to eat on this floor.") I caught something Aria was saying that interested me and listened in, "The monsters on this floor sometimes carry daggers. If we find some, I want to use them instead of this sword." Maxwell nodded. "That''s fine. At this .... it would be better if you were using weapons you are better with." I didn''t get the sense that Aria thought he would deny her, but she''s still paying lip service to the idea that we''re escorting her up. Her current gear was a mishmash of stuff she''d collected, mostly from the bloody halls, but she never did find weapons that were more appropriate for her. Daggers and a short bow were her weapons of choice from what I was told. She can use a sword, and some matchups are better for it, but daggers seem to be her primary weapons if she can get away with them. Maxwell once again led us through the hallways of this familiar looking floor. The more time we spent here the more it felt reminiscent of the bloody halls but without the impending sense of dread that I felt there. I also didn''t keep hearing clicking that sounded out of place, no, just the normal repetitive ticking and tocking on this floor that was making me mildly irritated. Aria reconnected with our group and gave Maxwell some of those hand signals, indicating which way the monsters were and how many of them there are. Just like the bloody halls, you apparently only had to mostly go in the right direction, and assuming something doesn''t make you get turned around, this floor is pretty easy to navigate. Since that was the case we decided to confront some of these mechanical monsters. When we turned the corner and started to fight with the clockwork monsters, we completely smashed them to pieces in minutes. While they were agile, they usually moved in predictable ways so they were easy to deal with. Occasionally they did something odd but it wasn''t hard to dodge them regardless most of the time. This room had three of them before we destroyed them all. A human ballerina clockwork that had a thin dagger most of the length of Aria''s forearm, a clockwork rabbit that I assume was a replica of a bloody rabbit and a... frog. I don''t know what else to say about the frog, it had a spring that catapulted a metal tongue out, but the thing died so quickly I didn''t get much of a look at it. Aria of course took the dagger which luckily came with a sheathe that I had to pry off the collapsed pile of brass that used to be the ballerina before I nearly cut it in half. The axe was only getting more lethal as we headed up and its only weakness is that sometimes it''s hard to swing fast enough for some of the smaller agile monsters. Aria was delighted by her new dagger which she was able to attach to the belt she was using to keep her ill-fitting armor on. She had gotten a lot more comfortable around me, even in my wolfy form so I didn''t need to walk on eggshells around her to avoid her freaking out. It was pretty refreshing that she had come to accept me as I am, even if she still does think my eyes are creepy. I can''t really blame her though, I still think they''re kinda creepy. I''ve just gotten used to them. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Eventually we came up to something that could only be described as a ''puzzle'' room. There was a large chasm in the ground that looked about four stories deep. It was pretty far down but you could still see the bottom and falling might not kill you at this distance. There were rotating handles that you used to align moving walkways to build a meandering bridge across the gap. I was quite hesitant to start playing with the handles since I wasn''t the best with puzzles but it seemed that the group had elected Luna to be the one to solve this for us. She took one look around before seemingly putting it all together in her head and it was only a matter of waiting for her to turn the cranks. The next step was much scarier. Maxwell pulled out a long length of rope that we began to tie around our waists. Naturally, I had to change to my human form for this. Both because I needed something to attach the rope to and also because if I was the one who fell, the chances of the four of them stopping my heavier wolf form would be a lot worse. The five of us slowly walked across the makeshift bridge. None of us spoke, it was nerve-wracking enough to cross the gap without any handholds but we made our way along the bridges in a sort of crouch walk in case we had to grab the edge of the bridge to stop someone from falling. After a tense thirty minutes of slow walking, we finally made it to the other side where we took a much needed break to calm down after that. I''m not exactly afraid of heights, but damn does it feel like it when you''re crossing such a scary looking pit without even handrails. Though, thinking about it, I''d probably be the most likely to survive a fall like that. Not that I''d want to test it out. "This is the halfway point," Maxwell said. "There is always something like this in the middle of the floor but this one was one of the worst." He shook his head with a grimace on his face. "I would rather just fight another monster or something." Maxwell''s speech was becoming more understandable to me over time. I still had trouble with a few things Aria said, since she tended to speak faster than the others, but I was quickly approaching fluency. It was still easier to understand them than to form my own sentences though. "Good thing we have Luna here to take care of that shit," Piper said with a laugh. Luna smiled and her tail swayed behind her. She clearly liked the praise. I think she often worried about holding the group back, so things like this helped buoy her self-esteem. It actually had been pretty impressive the way she worked out the puzzle so quickly. It seemed like another thing that reminded me of video games from my previous world. I didn''t play them much but I had seen stuff like this at friends'' houses. It had been fun to watch other people play them sometimes. We got moving and ran into more of those clockwork enemies. At this point, the fights were kind of only a distraction from trying to find our way through the maze. None of the enemies had been very threatening and the only reason we had sought a few of them out was because Aria was hoping to find a second matching dagger from another of the clockwork ballerinas. Since we were making such fast time through the floor anyway, Maxwell didn''t mind the detour. Especially since Aria was doing most of the heavy lifting by scouting out our fights this time. I was able to tune out the ticking eventually but it was still too confusing to use my hearing to narrow any of the monsters down. There was no way I could differentiate the ticking the monsters made from the ticking in the walls. Aria came back with an interesting look on her face that I couldn''t place, and started whispering something to Maxwell. Maxwell looked conflicted before eventually leading us a little bit away from the hallway that Aria had just scouted for us. "Aria found another floor boss room and it has a chest in it," he told the rest of us. I glanced at Luna before looking back at Maxwell. "What kind of monster is it? "A giant .... .... like the ones we''ve been fighting. It looks like it''s made of a .... .... metal," Maxwell replied. I turned to Luna who repeated what he said nearly verbatim since it was getting harder to pick out the words I was missing. ("A giant humanoid dancer like the ones we have been facing along with smaller dancers nearby. It looks like they are made from a silvery blue metal instead of the regular ones.") My first thought was Maxwell''s sword, but that was more like a magical glow than a special kind of metal. I wouldn''t know until I saw it. I shrugged. "A chest would be good. These monsters are not very strong. We could probably fight the floor boss without... a problem," I said, struggling to articulate my words. Piper nodded. "Even if we can''t use what we find, we''re getting closer to the surface. If we have to move some of what we find to my bag, I''m sure it won''t be a problem with the floors above us." Maxwell sighed. "I''m worried about the .... ...." ("Lost Halls,") Luna told me before I asked. ("It''s the name of the sixth floor. The dungeon actively tries to separate groups there. None of us should have trouble with the enemies but the maze is extra difficult to navigate and it can be a very time-consuming floor to traverse.") "The monsters near the boss have matching daggers made from the same material. I want to try for them. A chest might give me some equipment to replace this .... too," Aria said gesturing to herself. "Luna?" Maxwell asked. Luna frowned. ("Tell him I''m okay with it, Fire isn''t the best against these enemies but I should still be able to do damage.") "Luna says she is okay with fighting it," I told Maxwell, Luna nodded to acknowledge that I was speaking for her. "Fine. Let''s take a break and make a plan on how to .... it then." Maxwell sat down and took a gulp of his canteen. Looks like we''re doing this. Chapter 55

<~> Chapter 55 The five of us stood outside the doors to a colossal room. The room was shaped like a large circular stage with rows of seats rising up and out of sight in a ring around it. From here it looked like we would be entering a colosseum ring with a short drop all around it. It looked similar to the previous boss rooms but it was larger and more decorated. No one coming across the entrance to this room would be able to mistake it for anything but a boss room. Now that I''ve seen a few, the circular room stood out to me. I idly wondered if the alraune had been in a similar ''room'' and we hadn''t been able to distinguish it from the regular forest. I stared at the behemoth clockwork dancer statue frozen in place with my blindfold. The monsters'' bodies glowed brilliantly with magic. They noticeably glowed stronger than the trivial clockwork monsters we had been fighting thus far. It was hard to gauge how much stronger they''ll be but I shouldn''t expect to smash through them in one hit like the others we have been fighting so far. "Is everyone ready?" Maxwell asked us. I shifted to my werewolf form, hefted my axe to my shoulder, and positioned my shield in front of me. The others checked the straps of their gear and a subtle aura of fiery magic cloaked Luna. This time I would be in the front of the formation to tease out their early attacks and get an idea of what we were up against. While this floor had been easy until now, floor bosses could be unexpectedly strong. I hope my experience facing the other floor bosses helped me here. "Ready," I repeated in chorus with my friends. The five of us stepped through the doorway to the room and I rushed forward to the middle. Sometimes boss rooms could lock others out so it was better not to take any chances. I nearly got in range of the boss when the entire floor sunk into the ground half a foot with my weight. The entire room hummed to life as a thundering harmony of clicking, ticking, and twangs of music began to play all throughout the room from every direction. It was as if we were standing inside of a music box as it came to life around us. I tried to regain my bearing and throw myself at the large metallic dancing clockwork in front of me but it twirled out of the way and out of my range. Six smaller ballerinas spun to life in the outside circle and pressed in at me in perfect synchronicity. Their silvery blue daggers wove around me in complex and inhuman movements and I was forced to leap out of the twirl of blades that met in the middle, yet never touched each other by only a hair. A quick glance at the door saw that my friends weren''t locked out but were having trouble finding a way to enter the fight. The ballerinas that had failed to attack me and I only narrowly avoided being stabbed from behind as they spread out in the arena. The moment the smaller ones fanned out though the larger one spun back to the center where its giant dagger sliced through the air at me. The huge clockwork was so fast that I wasn''t able to cleanly dodge its attack and a sharp blade tore through my ribcage. I spat out blood even as my ribs reformed and I attempted to hack into the monster''s legs only to barely whiff it as it twirled back out of my range again. As the ring of smaller ballerinas once again pressed in toward me, I dashed forward and tried to cleave one of them in half before they could pin me between them again. The bluish metal warped and dented where my huge axe bit into it but I wasn''t able to tear it in half. The maneuver did manage to lock the ballerina in front of me as it angrily stuttered and clicked in displeasure as it wasn''t allowed to move in time with its clockwork brethren. When the ring of ballerinas danced back out from the center I leapt away and watched as the one I had damaged awkwardly slashed at me, out of sync with the others, before twirling away just in time to not slam into the singular giant ballerina. Starting to get a handle on the pattern of the monsters, I managed to dodge out of its attack this time. As I flung myself to the other side of it, I was only barely able to react in time to the foot that nearly clipped me. It had already slightly altered its pattern the moment I started to recognize it. A rush of heat began to charge under my feet as Luna''s familiar magic began to warm the air around me. I danced into the hole I had created in the background dancers'' pattern and attempted to hammer again at the one I had previously damaged. My axe once again sank into the ballerina''s frame and it clicked at me angrily as I held it in place outside of its desired timing with the other dancers. Once again I was unable to damage it too much and I had to leap away from it before I lost my window to dodge the more dangerous giant clockwork. I had hoped that even if I didn''t damage the smaller dancer, interrupting its timing would at least interfere with the larger one, but the smaller clockwork''s pattern changed further instead. Now rather than timing its motions to the smaller dancers its timing more closely resembled the larger one and now I lost any window of opportunity to attempt counter-attacking it as I unsuccessfully dodged out of the way of their newly coordinated attacks. The ache of my wounds knitting themselves back together almost distracted me from the moment that Luna''s magic flared to life. A hot gout of flame filled the arena and superheated the metal of the dancing clockwork monsters. The blue metal had turned a hot molten red and I took the opportunity to hammer my axe into one of the still synchronous background dancers. Loud sounds of screeching metal filled the room as not only had I torn through the leg of the dancer I had aimed at, Maxwell and Aria had successfully damaged two of the other clockwork ballerinas as well. I slid my body between two of the dancers as they pressed back into the center, and saw that three of them were now missing limbs, two different legs and an arm. I watched as my friends were forced to jump back and away from the stage again as the large ballerina spun around the outside of the ring, continuing to force the other melee fighters out of our dance. Encouraged by the last round of attacks I saw Luna preparing another large area fire spell centered on the stage and the heat once again began to tingle under my feet. When the ring of background dancers opened up again, I slid into the middle hoping to avoid the giant ballerina''s attacks by leaning into them this time. Its longer limbs failed to gain purchase but I traded a blow on the giant''s leg for another slash against my ribs from the smaller one. My attack didn''t do much more than dent one of the larger clockwork''s leg panels but a few more hits like that could start to tear it apart. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. I could feel Luna''s magic being held near the apex now, waiting for an opportune time to be released. I slid once again into the opening I made in the background dancers and just as the dancers were fanning back out Luna''s magic was released and their frames once again took on an angry orange hue. This time four loud noises of twisting metal rang through the colosseum and two sounds of crumpling clockworks followed. Thinking quickly I tossed the clockwork I had disabled out of the immediate arena to give myself more room, and I noticed that Maxwell had a similar idea, having dragged away the other. I leapt back to the center as the two dancers offset from the rest took their place in center stage and this time I hammered into the smaller one and tried to hold it in place to get it closer in time with the others, but the giant ballerina forced me to give up on that if I wanted to avoid taking one of its stronger, more dangerous blows. The smaller one was now a bit out of time with the larger one but they were still close enough to be more dangerous than the other dancers. Rather than a long charged area of effect spell from Luna, a quick yet devastating blast of fire superheated one of the smaller dancers this time. The moment I saw the hot orange glow of its legs I took advantage of the weakness and cleaved through them, disabling a third of the background dancers. I was still throwing that one out of the ring when another bolt of fire hit another close to Aria, who efficiently finished it off. This time no one was able to clear the body of the clockwork in time before the giant one spun back around to that side and kicked its corpse at me. The attack had been so unexpected that it threw me on my ass despite barely bringing my shield up in time. I rolled back into the center, barely dodging the giant ballerina as it circled the edge of the stage, before scrabbling back to my feet just in time to catch the blade of the last background dancer still on its original timing. It twirled backward and away from me as I dodged back and out of range of the two now heading for the middle once again. I panted and caught my breath. It felt like I had run two miles without stopping. This had been the most intense cardio I had done since I got here. I''ve been forced to move non-stop for this entire fight. It was only now that there were only three of them left that I had the time to catch a breather. My eyes caught Luna''s for a second and I watched her focus her charging bolt of fire on the last of the remaining background dancers out of time with the large one. Taking a deep breath, I prepared to pounce. Her bolt of fire was released and I met the dancer just as her fire superheated the clockwork''s legs. A swing of my axe cleaved through both of the clockwork''s legs in one go, being even easier having caught it so close to the impact of Luna''s magic, and threw it off the arena before the giant one could fling its body at me again. After the moment had passed I dodged the giant clockwork''s attack just in time to make it back to the edge of the arena. I took the precious moment to catch my breath once again, now thoroughly exhausted by this ordeal. I leapt forward back into the center once the remaining two clockworks began to spin back out to the edges. Luna''s bolt of magic hit the last remaining small one on the other edge allowing Maxwell to slash through its legs. This time Piper and Aria were ready and dashed forward to hurl the mechanical corpse over the edge before the last remaining clockwork could make it around the arena toward them. All that was left was the final one, the giant clockwork ballerina. Luna''s magic began to collect beneath my feet once again and for three cycles I just dodged out of the ballerina''s way and caught my breath. I readied myself for the final burst of energy that I would need to hopefully finish the last remaining enemy off. I felt the intensity of fire magic in the air and knew it was time for the last push. ("Ready,") I told Luna through the rings. Just as the colossal ballerina spun back to the center, Luna''s magic released and the entire lower half of the clockwork glowed an angry orange once again. I darted forward, swinging my axe with both hands. I attempted to chop right through both legs but didn''t quite make it all the way. The boss still fell to the ground and off its track but unlike the others, this clockwork didn''t die the moment its connection to the arena had snapped and its giant dagger pushed through my torso and expelled all the air from my lungs as the hilt slammed into my solar plexus. I wrapped my left hand around the clockwork''s giant hand and slammed my axe into its wrist repeatedly. I was growing slightly faint from the lack of air but the bubbling rage in my heart was quickly coming to the surface. My axe slammed into its wrist harder and harder despite the awkward angle of my attack. DIE DIE DIE DIE, my instincts screamed out as blackness began to claw at the edges of my vision. A blast of heat washed over me and I fell backwards away from the clockwork monster. GET IT OUT! I ripped the gigantic dagger out of my chest and hacked out the blood that had filled my lungs before finally getting the air that I needed again. I coughed as the burning in my lungs subsided and I gasped out for air as if I had nearly drowned. I fell onto my back and took lungful after lungful of air until my breathing finally evened out again. Faintly in the background I realized that the giant ballerina had still been alive and only now between the efforts of Luna and Maxwell finally finished off. Piper kneeled next to me and I felt her magic wash through my body and take away some of the soreness. It took another few moments to realize she had been talking to me and I was lying there unresponsive. "I okay... I okay... tired," I grunted out. I could hear Piper''s sigh of relief when I finally responded. Chapter 56

<~> Chapter 56 The next time I opened my eyes I had a stomachache. I don''t remember shifting but I was in my human form with my head resting on Luna''s lap. Smiling down at me, she drew a lock of hair out of my face. ("Are you feeling alright, Helena?") ("I feel a little sick,") I told her with a grimace. I sat up and ran my hand across my face. I felt like crap. ("Can I have some water, please?") ("Sure.") She handed me one of our canteens and I started slowly drinking down the water. It was refreshing and my stomach settled a little, but I realized what the problem was. "I think I am hungry," I said out loud. Luna frowned and dug through her pack. ("We didn''t bring any monster meat with us so all we have is our rations and some leftover raw venison.") She handed me the hard and salty jerky and I started to scarf it down. It helped. Normally the jerky isn''t very palatable but right now anything is better than my empty stomach. I took another gulp of water and finished off the small bundle of jerky Luna had given me. It wasn''t quite enough, I''m still hungry, but it''ll do for now. "Thank you," I told her. I looked up at everyone else who were all looking at a chest that had been dragged to the center of the room. Aria was looking through the daggers and Piper scrutinized the strange blue metal. I wonder what we would have done if we didn''t have Luna''s magic to weaken the metal during the fight. ("Are you alright?") Luna asked again. I looked at her but I couldn''t hold eye contact, I looked back down at the floor in front of me. ("I... fucked up in that last fight. I would have died if it wasn''t for my regeneration... again. I keep thinking I''m getting better but then I keep just scraping by. Aren''t the enemies supposed to be getting weaker?" I grumbled. Luna took my hand and intertwined her fingers in mine. ("Perhaps you did make a mistake, but that was a difficult foe. You dodged numerous attacks nonstop during that entire fight. At the end I think you got greedy, you took a risky attack and paid for it in a way that would have likely killed anyone else. But you''re not anyone else. It may be gruesome to watch, but you can afford to be a little greedy. Ending that fight there could have paid off, if it wasn''t for that surprise attack at the end you could have ended the fight before anyone else could get hurt.") She shook her head. ("I''m not telling you to be reckless, you should try and learn from your mistakes but don''t beat yourself up too badly. We''ve been adventuring for a while now and you''ve been at it for less than a month. Your strength has outgrown your experience, but you''ve been catching on quickly. If you don''t push yourself a little, it''s harder to grow. You just have to push yourself to different extremes than most people.") I played the fight back in my head. Did I get greedy? I thought my axe would cut through both legs cleanly but it didn''t. Was the attack reckless in the first place or did I just make a miss calculation? I sighed and stood up before turning and helping Luna to her feet as well. Now that I was upright again everyone was crowding around the unopened chest. They waited for me. The thought brought a small smile to my lips. "Sorry for the nap. Thank you for waiting for me. Is everyone ready to look inside?" I asked. Aria was practically vibrating in excitement while Maxwell and Piper were a bit more subdued but clearly antsy. This had been a great haul for them already, but it was hard not to get excited when opening a mystery box full of treasure! Maxwell did the honors once again, popping the lock off with his crowbar and swinging the box open. The first item on top was made of metal and pulleys and it wasn''t until Maxwell pulled it out and held it up that I realized what it was. "What is it? Some kind of clockwork device?" Aria asked looking at the contraption. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "That is a..." I frowned, not having any clue how to explain it. Instead, I turned to Piper. ("Isn''t that a compound bow? It uses those pulley cables to hold the tension in the bow when you pull it back.") I didn''t know that much about compound bows but I''ve seen them in movies and stuff. I listened to Piper and picked out the words I wasn''t familiar with as she explained to Aria what I thought it was. Aria understandably lit up with excitement when she heard it was a bow. Maxwell dug through the box and pulled out a spare set of bowstrings and cables and a thin book that had drawings showing how to restring it with another crank device in the box. Luckily for all of us, the bow was already strung up properly so Aria wouldn''t have to deal with that yet. Inside was the bow, bowstrings, two dozen arrows, and a set of light armor that could only be sized for Aria. It seems this box was mostly a box of goodies for her. She had even collected all of the daggers from all the smaller clockwork ballerinas, twelve in total. The ''dagger'' the giant ballerina used was too large to actually be useful for any of us, even me. The arrows were interesting though, they seemed like they were made of a light bronze-colored metal and had synthetic fletching. They stood out as pretty alien to the others even if the materials seemed familiar to my eye. Next up was a leather satchel with potions inside. Each of them was labeled but I couldn''t read any of them. Luna told me they were for restoring mana and health, so they would be good for her to hang onto in case of emergencies. There was also a spare set of clothes that looked sized to my human form. They weren''t magical or anything but having a spare set of clothes would be nice when I wasn''t wearing my armor. Considering I only had things from the dungeon it was nice to have. The last thing in the bag was a bit unexpected, two decently large backpacks. Neither of them were magical like Maxwell''s but considering Aria and I had both been reliant on everyone else to carry our stuff, this had been a great find. Inside them were some basics, as if the bags had been prepacked with small survival kits. Rope, bandages, basic climbing tools, a scratchy stone for sparking fires with, and a few other miscellaneous camping basics. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Piper lightly kicked the chest with her foot. "Everything was for Aria and Helena, other than the potions. I feel left out," she said with some humor in her voice. Maxwell shrugged. "The chest gave Helena and Aria some much needed equipment, I''m still happy with the sword I found on the fifteenth floor and that healing .... was a good find for you too." Piper laughed. "I know, I know. Hard to complain with the number of chests we''ve found on this delve." "On the ...., I can finally help everyone out at full strength. Now that I have a pair of good daggers and this new, if strange bow, I can finally help all of you without feeling like dead weight," Aria added. "I think you have been helpful. Ever since the spider," I told her. She grinned. "Well thanks, but .... happy to have something familiar now. Even if .... an unfamiliar kind of familiar." I frowned and thought about what she was saying. Am I missing the contractions? "Can you repeat that slowly?" I asked. She cocked her head but repeated herself slower. Now that I knew what I was missing the words stood out to me like a sore thumb. "I said something like... Well thanks, but I''m happy to have something familiar now. Even if it''s an unfamiliar kind of familiar... I think that''s all I said?" Aria replied in confusion. I nodded. "Thank you. I think... I''m starting to get a better understanding of your language." "Oh! I see. Uh, no problem I guess," Aria responded with a smile. My stomach grumbled and I was more than ready to get off this floor that gave me a constant headache with all the clockwork sounds everywhere. I hope the next floor had some good... or rather decent monster meat to eat. I think getting hurt and regenerating burns through my calories, I''m always so hungry after I heal. On our way to the next floor we ran into more of the clockwork monsters but like before, these ones weren''t dangerous for us at all at this stage. Aria tried her bow a few times but it quickly became apparent that while her aim was true, the metal arrows she was shooting at these mechanical monsters weren''t going to do much to them. The arrows seemed pretty sturdy though, she didn''t have any trouble collecting them. I could tell she was a bit disappointed though, I got the impression she wanted to show off to Maxwell. The thought made me smile. "How is the compound bow?" I asked Aria. She looked down at it for a moment before smiling. "Strange. It''s .... to pull back at first but once you get it to its full .... it becomes easy to hold, letting me take .... more .... It will take a little getting used to but I''m really happy with it. These monsters don''t make good targets though." "That''s good," I replied. "The bow looks strong." She nodded in satisfaction before going on ahead of us again. Aria continued to scout for us but we weren''t very worried about the monsters anymore. I think she was doing it mainly just to refresh her skills, she hasn''t been doing as much scouting since joining our group. Her new daggers have proved to be really sharp, though notably not magical according to my blindfold. They just seemed like really sharp metal, not anything on the same level as Maxwell''s magic sword. I wasn''t sure how sturdy they actually were. They were certainly stronger than the normal clockwork monsters that I cleaved through in one hit but I wasn''t sure how hot Luna''s magic was. Her magic sometimes melted the normal clockwork monsters in place but the blue metal had only become more vulnerable to the heat of her magic. Once Aria rejoined us I decided to ask her another question, "Aria, is your new equipment better than what you had before you lost your ...remember on the forest floor?" "Remember? Oh, you must mean memories." I took note of the word she used as she continued. "Well, the blades were a little worse than these ones. I was using the same ones the normal dancers carry on this floor after the last time I passed through here. I have no idea about the bow, I''ve never used a bow like this before but it feels pretty easy to use. I''m a little worried about .... for it but hopefully that .... will help me." I nodded. I wasn''t sure exactly what she was getting at but I think she was talking about either maintaining the bow or restringing it or something. Our group continued on and completely destroyed any group of those clockwork monsters we came across. Though this floor looked similar to the bloody halls, it was a lot more relaxing to travel through compared to that paranoia inducing floor. I mostly talked to Luna while walking since the monsters weren''t very dangerous and Aria had done a good job of scouting. I needed something to keep me occupied to keep my attention off all the annoying noise on the floor and I was lucky that she indulged me. Even looking through my blindfold''s magical sight wasn''t as interesting on this floor. The clockwork monsters still registered as magical but other than those, there wasn''t much to see. We finally reached the stairs going up after wandering for a while longer. I was still hungry after the last fight and was quite happy when I was told we would be heading to the next floor instead of taking a break or camping here. I was sick of the smell of oil and the constant ticking everywhere so I was happy we would be moving on so soon. This floor went pretty quick all things considered. The boss was fairly challenging but I was happy with what we received as a reward. It might be an odd thing to focus on, but having my own backpack actually meant a lot to me. I ran my hands against the cool stone of the stairwell and smiled. Another floor conquered. Then I followed my friends up the steps. Chapter 57

<~> Chapter 57 I stepped onto the new floor. It looked familiar, the walls were made of regularly spaced bricks almost identical to the blue ones from the trapped fifteenth floor. Instead of the blue of those bricks, these were a whitish-grey color instead. Maxwell told us that this current floor wouldn''t take that long so we should try to make it through this floor today. We spent a little bit of time near the stairs to rest up before we continued on. "Traps?" I asked Luna as we walked through the maze-like hallways once again. ("No, this floor doesn''t have any traps on it and the only monsters on this floor are misty wolves and giant rats. Compared to the things we have been facing, not a challenge at all,") she told me. ("Are the misty wolves made of flesh?") I asked, switching to talking through the rings since I didn''t know the monsters'' names in this tongue yet. ("Kind of? They do have meat but it tastes strange so most people don''t like it. They''re mostly normal looking wolves, but they can use water and ice magic. They leave trails of mist behind them when they run, hence the name. Their magic probably isn''t much of a danger to us, but like all wolf monsters, they fight in groups and use pack tactics. The giant rats aren''t anything special though, they''re just big rats. You don''t have a problem with rats do you?") I snorted. ("No. I''ve never really been squeamish around animals like that. Not really afraid of bugs either.") She turned to me and smiled. ("I thought so. I used to be afraid of bugs but fighting in dungeons against giant ones will make you deal with that fear really quick. I still don''t like them but I don''t squeal like a kit anymore when I see them.") ("It''s honestly kind of funny to think about you being scared of bugs,") I said. She tilted her head to the side. ("How come?") I shrugged. ("I don''t know, you can use magic! It just feels like a little creepy crawly shouldn''t be much of a concern when you can light them on fire.") She giggled. ("Well, how do you think I got over my fear? Well... that and getting sprayed with bug ichor a few dozen times. Our early trips through the dungeon in Ironcastle got me used to them quickly. A couple of the early floors have giant bugs in that dungeon.") ("Any bugs in this dungeon?") She looked up and tapped her chin. ("Not that I recall, but there might be some on the first five floors. Maxwell would know better than I would. There are so many adventurers on those early floors that a lot of the monsters get killed so quickly it would be entirely possible to go through the floors and never see all of the monsters on any given floor.") ("Does that mean eating all the different hearts up there isn''t going to work?") I asked. She frowned. ("I''m not sure if that''s a good idea and I have a suspicion you wouldn''t get much out of it anyway. Transforming on those early floors might send people into a bit of a panic and attack you.") ("What did you mean about that first part? That I wouldn''t get much out of it?") She shook her head. ("Because I''m a spellcaster, I have an innate sense of how mana flows and I can sense it if I concentrate. I didn''t realize it was happening right away, but after we suspected you were eating mana in addition to the monster''s meat, I was able to observe your mana the next time you ate one of their hearts. When you eat the hearts of monsters, the mana flows through you and absorbs into your mana pool, strengthening your altered form. Sometimes those changes carry over to your human form as well and your mana signature subtly changes. While the monsters on the tenth floor had pretty strong effects on your altered body, they didn''t have as much mana so it didn''t strengthen your mana pool as much. By the time we''re at the fifth floor and above you might be getting next to nothing from them. Tracking each one down may be a waste of time.") I had been thinking as much as well based on how much worse the monsters were tasting on every floor we went up. ("Do you think the potential alterations to my form would be worth it at least?") I asked. ("I would have said no before, but the monsters on the tenth floor had stronger effects on you than I would have expected. All we can really do is try and get away with it if no one''s around on the fifth floor and above,") she replied. Before we could continue our conversation, our group came across a dozen giant rats. When I say giant, I mean dog sized. "Helena, Piper, block!" Maxwell called out. The two of us ran to the front, created a wall of shields with Maxwell, and blocked off the corridor. These rats are so gigantic that I would have been a lot more worried about them if I hadn''t already faced worse on my trip through the dungeon. I felt the warm prickle of mana collecting as a large circle of magic started to form in the room in front of us. Either the rats had no sense of self-preservation or they weren''t aware of what was about to happen to them. They slammed their bodies against the three of us and tried to get through our little barricade, but with a little bit of positioning none of them made it through. While we were holding them off Aria had shot several arrows at the rats through my legs and between the gaps between the three of us, much to my chagrin. However, each arrow hit a rat and sent it flying to the other side of the room without a single incident of friendly fire. In a great swell of heat, the entire room the rats were in lit up and all of the remaining rats died instantly to Luna''s magic. They didn''t seem like difficult enemies, but I suppose Maxwell chose that strategy to make sure no one got overwhelmed. Luna''s magic is a safe bet for situations where they mindlessly threw themselves at us. When it was clear there were no more enemies, Maxwell followed Aria over to some of the rats she had nailed with her arrows and they talked while Aria retrieved them. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Piper came over and gently elbowed me in the side and nodded over to the two of them. "Looks like Aria''s .... impressed my brother," she said with a grin. ("Aria''s what?") I asked. I couldn''t help but have let some of my amusement seep into my voice. ("Shooting, you horn dog,") Piper said with a chuckle after teaching me a new word. "Though I''m pretty sure he likes her ass too. I''ve caught him looking." Even Luna giggled at that one. "What do you think of Aria?" I asked. She shrugged. "Maxwell could do worse than with her. I''ve asked and she isn''t engaged or married and I think they get along well. Things could go sideways depending on what happened with the rest of Aria''s team but I suppose we''ll see what happens when it comes to it." "What''s this about Aria''s team?" I asked. Piper sighed. "With how we found her, I''d say the odds of her teammates being alive are low. None of us have talked about it but I think everyone, except you I guess, has come to the conclusion that she''s on her own now. If she gets confirmation that they''re dead or missing, or even if they are alive things could change rapidly. She could be holding onto hope that her friends made it out somehow and could break down when we reach the surface. Or if they are alive, she would be forced to choose between her friends and Maxwell, a .... lover. A lot of things could happen and we haven''t talked about them yet." I nodded. "I see." Just then Aria came over to me holding one of the dead rats in her arms. It looked even creepier dead than alive if I''m being honest. I wasn''t lying when I told Luna that rats didn''t bother me but giant dead rat corpses the size of dogs was a little grosser than I thought. This one had been killed by one of Aria''s arrows and was knocked out of Luna''s spell before it could be charred to death like the other ones. "Do you need to eat one of these?" she asked. I was a little grossed out by it, but despite myself, my mouth was still watering. I was starving and perhaps a little mana-deficient after my last close call with the giant ballerina clockwork. I sighed and took the giant rat from her before gently placing it on the ground and sinking my teeth into it. The meat was more appetizing than I was expecting but the mana content was much lower than the monsters on the tenth floor. Still, it was good enough to sate my hunger so I kept tearing off meat and swallowing it down. Eventually, I made it to the heart and ate it in two bites. I felt a prickle in my whiskers and I was suddenly a bit more aware of the movement of the air against them. It was an odd feeling, it wasn''t a sense that I was used to, but also not as overwhelming as some of the other sensory upgrades I had received so far. I could easily tell which way the air was moving in the dungeon without much thought now though. An odd thing to be aware of at all times but not unwelcome. I poked at one of the whiskers on my wolfy face to see if they would be painful to touch, but fortunately, there didn''t seem to be any drawbacks from eating the heart this time. ("Anything good?") Luna asked curiously. I think she may have started treating me as a bit of a puzzle to solve without realizing it, but I don''t think I mind. "My..." I pointed to my whiskers. Piper told me the word I was missing. "My whiskers are more sensitive. I can feel the air moving now. It''s moving in that direction," I said pointing down one of the nearby corridors. Piper''s brow wrinkled in thought and she walked over to Maxwell. I just shrugged and continued eating the rat. It was a bit less gross now that I had eaten half of it already. I had nearly eaten the entire thing before deciding I didn''t want to pick around all the bones for more. None of the other rats survived being char-broiled so I decided to save my appetite for the interesting wolves Luna had told me about instead. Maxwell walked over as I was finishing up. "Piper said you can feel the air moving?" I nodded. "That''s what I got from the rat," I told him. "That may be the direction of the stairs. Do you want to see if it is leading us the right way?" he asked. My eyebrows rose. I hadn''t considered the air might be leading anywhere but it made sense. "Are you sure it will lead up and not down?" I asked. "No, but the direction you pointed isn''t directly behind us, so I think it''s worth looking. We still have a little bit of time so it won''t be a big .... if we go in circles for a little while. If it does help us find the stairs up, it could save us a lot of time instead." "Alright, I''m interested in trying it out then," I replied. "Great," he said with a smile. "In that case, point the way and Aria will scout ahead for us." "Sure." I didn''t think Aria''s scouting was necessary since I could hear and smell the monsters better on this floor, but I wasn''t going to rain on her parade either. Maxwell and Aria both seem happy about the arrangement so who am I to say anything? I''ll just make a point of warning everyone if I hear something unusual. I indicated the path again to Aria and she nodded before quietly going on ahead of us while we followed behind her at a slower pace. While I could track monsters a little bit, I found that I didn''t particularly mind letting someone else scout the path. It let me reserve more energy for the fights. Not that we were fighting anything all that challenging anymore, other than the bosses. I licked my chops, I could go for some wolf meat though. While I didn''t think it would hold up to the umber hound that I had eaten when I woke up, I would be happy if it echoed the flavor a little bit. Chapter 58

<~> Chapter 58 We followed the flow of air for a good thirty minutes while Aria continued to scout up ahead. We caught up with her at the next junction where she was waiting for us. When we got closer she pointed in one of the directions. "There is a group of misty wolves that way. I''m not sure where we''re headed next but it might be worth the .... for Helena." I turned to Luna who already knew which word I had missed. ("Detour.") Nodding, I turned back to Aria. "No reason not to fight them. I''ll be able to pick up the path after." "Let me get the first strike then," Aria said. I looked at Maxwell who nodded in agreement. "That''s fine. Helena, protect Luna and Aria." As much as I wanted to protest, that seemed like a good idea. Wolves were pack animals, as I''m very aware, they will probably try to surround us and Maxwell can usually only cover one side at a time. I took my place and Aria led our group forward as quietly as we could manage. There were eight bright white wolves in a relatively large room. The area smelled a bit like rain and I could see the trails of mist coming off the wolves, flowing with the air current I was now all too aware of. The room itself reminded me a bit of the bat room from the earlier floor, a simple open rectangle, but this one didn''t have narrow doors that we could take advantage of. Aria already had an arrow pulled back into its drawn position and was making a point to aim at the largest of the group. A quiet thwip sound followed by a surprised yelp from one of the nearby wolves echoed through the room as Aria''s target died instantly with an arrow right through its skull. Aria immediately fell back into our group as Maxwell and Piper pushed forward into the room. We tried to use the archway as best we could to control the area but I had to stay in the back to stop the wolves from slipping through the cracks. Fighting these enemies made me feel a bit clairvoyant. My instincts lined up with their fighting style so well I could predict where the wolves would attack with high certainty. An interesting idea came to mind and I feigned a trip. One of the wolves immediately dashed around Maxwell and tried to leap at me, the feint worked. My axe swung upwards and sunk into the wolf''s barrel and knocked it backward like I had uppercut it. Rather than being rained in blood, a spray of spring water splashed against my shield. The attack had been devastating, the monster thumped to the ground, only barely in one piece. Rather than her longer to charge area attack spells, Luna was throwing balls of fire at the enemies. These enemies were so much weaker to fire than what we normally fought, even her relatively weaker magic was tearing them apart as well. In only a handful of seconds, the eight wolves were massacred. I paused and looked around, wondering if more monsters were hiding nearby. After a few heartbeats, nothing else came out and my eyes were drawn to my kill. "Go ahead," Maxwell said, nodding toward the wolf I had killed. Without a reason to wait, I walked up to my kill and sunk my teeth into the wolf. It was a truly odd experience. The wolves had flesh but their blood tasted like a freshwater spring. The lack of blood made the meat taste weird, though the amount of magic these monsters had was much greater than anything I had eaten since the trap floor with the minotaur. The flavor confused me as being both delicious and bland at the same time. In no time at all I found the heart and bit into the flesh. These wolves weren''t that large so I was able to devour it in two bites. Just like the flesh, the taste was odd and didn''t have the iron flavor I had become so used to. Still, the rush of magic I felt as I swallowed the heart was thrilling. At first I wasn''t sure what had changed, but as I closed my eyes and concentrated on the strange feeling that traveled through my body, I sensed something odd. There was an intangible spot inside me where the flow of energy had collected into a knot. I frowned and furrowed my brows as I focused on the spot. The feeling was difficult to describe, but it felt like I could reach out and grab the spot inside me. When I did, I suddenly became disoriented. When the feeling passed I was several steps back from where I had been standing before. ("Helena! What was that?") Luna excitedly called out to me through the rings. I shook my head. ("I''m not sure. I did something and then... I got confused. What did it look like I did?") ("Your body turned to smoke and then it reformed behind you!") she exclaimed. I rubbed my eyes and shook my head. There was a small bit of nausea associated with whatever I did and it wasn''t going away. I felt motion sick, something I hadn''t felt since I was a kid on long car rides. I could still feel the knot of energy inside of me but it felt depleted. After focusing inward on the flow of energy I was now able to observe it in a way that I hadn''t realized I could do before. Is this mana? Is this my own flow of magic like Luna''s? ("Hold on, sit down for a moment,") Luna told me. I nodded and slid down and sat on my butt with my legs splayed out. Sitting like this felt a bit odd after my legs had changed. I had to focus my eyes on a spot in front of me to keep from throwing up. Everything felt like it was slightly spinning. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ("When you ate the misty wolf''s heart it did something to how your mana flows. Do you feel something odd? Like a stone in your chest?") I just sat there for a moment and waited for the nausea to ease off, I needed a few breaths before I could reply. ("It feels like a knot, a spot in my chest where the energy all bunched up. Is this what my magic feels like? ...I feel like I''m gonna hurl.") ("Yes, that energy flowing through you is mana, normally the mana absorbs directly into your mana pool, but this time the mana bunched up in one spot inside your body. It seems this time you''ve taken one of the innate abilities the misty wolves are most known for. We killed them so quickly we didn''t get to see it, but misty wolves can have brief moments where weapons pass right through them and they reform their bodies from the surrounding mist. What you did looked similar but instead of mist, your body turned to smoke that resembled your fur,") Luna said. ("That''s great, but why do I feel so sick right now?") I groaned out ("When you used your ability I think you used up too much of the mana that''s flowing through your body in one go, leaving you weakened. Misty wolves don''t usually move so far when they do that, they use it to dodge hits rather than evade away.") ("Does that mean talking through the rings could make it worse?") I asked. She shook her head. ("No, the innate abilities of monsters are separate from their mana pools. Innate abilities take from the flow of mana that circulates through their bodies. They can only use the ability so much before it puts a strain on their body because they need that mana circulating through their bodies to function correctly. You can think of it like blood. Mana pools are different, it''s like a well of energy that fills your core. You can get exhausted if you dip too deep into your mana pool but if you try to use innate abilities too much it''ll physically harm your body.") ("I don''t really get the difference between the two but I''ll take your word for it. How long till I stop feeling sick?") I whined. Luna gently ran her fingers through the fur of my neck. I might have felt indignant about being treated like a dog, but her touch was so soothing that I would let it pass since it seemed to be helping. ("It shouldn''t take too much longer before you''re feeling okay to move again, but you shouldn''t use that innate ability again until that knot of mana feels full again. Next time try to just flicker it on and off.") Piper came over with a concerned look. "Is everything alright?" I slowly shook my head. "Luna thinks I gained a monster''s weapon but using it made me feel sick. She says it shouldn''t be much longer before I''m okay to move again." I tried my best to explain using my limited vocabulary. "Monster''s weapon?" she asked curiously. "She says the misty wolves can do something similar to the thing I did a moment ago," I told her. Piper raised her eyebrows. "You can use a monster''s innate ability?" I shrugged in response. "Here, let me try to help you." Piper placed her hand on my shoulder and I shuddered as her diagnostic magic flowed through my body. A moment later a feeling of warmth filled my stomach and the nausea finally went away. "Be careful when you use that innate ability. I can heal the damage you do to yourself but it takes a lot of .... Your natural regeneration might be able to heal the damage too, but if you cripple yourself in the middle of a fight, things could get bad for all of us." I nodded, just happy that her healing had finally rid me of the nausea I had been feeling. "Thank you, Piper. I feel a lot better now." I stood up. I still felt a bit sluggish and sore in a way I can''t describe, but at least I avoided throwing up all over the place. That was never a fun experience. "No chest this time," Maxwell declared once I got back on my feet. I looked up and was happy to see that I wouldn''t be voluntold to climb the ceiling and open a chest this time. Chests were great and all but they tended to be a lot of work. As we kept following the direction of the airflow, Maxwell had come to the conclusion that it did seem to be pushing us in the right direction. We had no idea if it was the most direct path, but it seemed to avoid a lot of frustrating doubling back when we hit a dead end. We ran across more misty wolves and I was able to see their ability in action this time. I watched as Maxwell''s sword slashed right through one of the wolves, head to tail, and its body reformed without a scratch just like Luna described. Now that I had an idea of how they used the ability I might be able to copy it better. I wasn''t in any hurry to try it though and I could feel the knot in my chest was not even a quarter of the way filled to capacity. I would need to try it out of combat anyway because even if these monsters weren''t much of a threat, the chance of getting that nauseated in combat sounded like an awful idea. Eventually, we reached the stairs up to the next floor. As I stood in front of it I could feel the subtle rush of air that flowed up the stairs like a wind tunnel. Standing right here, it was obvious that the airflow was pushing through the floors and going up. That raised some questions for me, is the air coming from the dungeon or is this whole place ventilated intentionally? Is this just a random side effect of the weird magic of this world? I shook my head and shifted to my human form before following the group up the stairs. I''m used to these endless questions with barely any satisfactory answers. I got the sense that even the people who live in this world wouldn''t even have the answers to my questions. We were about to make it to the seventh floor, the last floor before the lost halls. After that, the last five floors will be crowded but quick to navigate supposedly. The lost halls were the final hurdle before I could finally make it out of this place. I have no idea what will await me on the surface but it might be nice to have a break from the constant danger. I was looking forward to it. Chapter 59

<~> Chapter 59 The first thing I recognized when I stepped foot onto the seventh floor was the dry arid warmth of the late afternoon sun and the gentle breeze of a high-elevation mountaintop. This floor looked like the top of a desert mountain, not too dissimilar from my home. It was warm, but not hot, so it might have been spring or fall. My paws stepped into the gravelly dirt and I looked around at the desert plants. Everything looked both similar to my home yet oddly alien. There were clumps of trees that looked a bit like mesquite but the leaves were a bright orange and red. There were also small green bushes that dotted the landscape with bright blue flowers with long petals growing on them. They looked so interesting that I would have remembered the plants if they grew natively where I lived. ("Helena? Is something the matter?") Luna asked. I turned to see that Luna was watching me look around while the others were taking a break and drinking some water before we headed out. Piper was in the middle of teasing Aria while Maxwell watched with amusement. ("Nothing''s wrong,") I replied. ("This place just reminds me of home. I was on a mountain very similar to this one when I was attacked by the umber wolf at night. It''s odd seeing a place that looks so similar to my home yet very different at the same time.") She nodded and stepped closer before taking my hand. ("I''ve always thought this floor was a bit dry for my tastes but the wind is nice. I enjoy more woodland areas to places like this. Would this be the kind of place you would like to live?") I shrugged. ("It reminds me of home but it''s not like I would need to live in a place like this. If you''d prefer a place in the woods, I don''t think I would argue,") I teased, drawing a blush out of her. ("What kind of place would you like to live?") Luna smiled. ("I think I would be happy anywhere that had kind people. The place itself is a bit less important to me. Maybe a large city where wandering beastfolk aren''t treated with as much suspicion. I do like the rain though, so probably not a dry desert like this place,") she said looking around the area. ("Yeah, it didn''t rain a lot where I lived. It mostly rained in the summer. But when it rained, it poured. It would even flood the streets sometimes.") ("The dungeon city above us is in a forested area that rains often. It''s a bit colder than I like sometimes, especially in the winter, but at least you can bundle up or build fires. That beats being stuck in the heat like on the eleventh floor.") ("Does it snow?") I asked. ("Only in the deep winter, and not often. It''s pretty nice. If you can handle the rain anyway.") ("It sounds nice. Hopefully it isn''t raining when we finally get out of here.") Luna chuckled. ("With your luck it will be.") "Hey you two, are you ready to get moving?" Piper asked. "I''m ready to go," I replied and I turned back to Luna to see her nodding. "Great, this floor shouldn''t take long but you might want to watch your step. We''ll be heading down the trail so it can be easy to ...." I turned to Luna who looked at me thoughtfully before saying, ("It can be easy to slip?") I nodded and turned back to Piper. "I''ll be careful not to slip." "Great, let''s get going," she said before heading back to Maxwell and taking her place just behind him on the trail. Aria went on ahead to scout for us while I guarded our rear. "What kinds of monsters are on this floor?" I asked Luna while practicing their language. ("Large lizards that spit acid, small dog-like things called Coyotes, and more hawks like on the tenth floor. None of them should be much trouble but try not to get hit by the lizards. Piper can heal the acid burns, but it takes a lot of her mana.") I shuddered. ("After the slimes, I don''t want to get any more acid burns. That was terrible.") Luna nodded. ("The acid isn''t as strong as the slimes, believe it or not, but because your regeneration didn''t hold up well against the slimes, you might not want to eat the lizards this time either. Their blood is acidic too. One of our earliest jobs in this dungeon was to collect a ton of their blood as an alchemy regent. It took us a while but it paid well, we still have a good relationship with that alchemist and he gives us a good deal on some of our supplies.") Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. We continued to walk down the trail for a while without running into any monsters. The trail we were on branched off in several places and wound its way around the rocks and trees. If we were heading up the mountain it might have been a challenge to pick the right trail but on our way down it was easy to figure out which way we should be going. With the wind on this floor, my new whiskers didn''t help us, but we didn''t really need it anyway. The first monster we ran into was a hawk dive-bombing us again, but it was quickly killed by Aria who was a great shot with her bow. I was actually kind of amazed to see her nail the hawk mid-dive, it seemed effortless. She offered me the corpse to eat but when I looked at it I frowned. My instincts weren''t screaming at me to eat it, it was probably too similar or even the same as the hawks that attacked us on the earlier floor. Since I had it anyway I decided to give it a go and eat its heart out anyway and we confirmed that I didn''t get anything new from eating additional hearts from the same kind of monster, even if it was on a different floor. We just continued on but this discovery left Luna lost in thought and she didn''t notice the coyote that was stalking us until I called it out from everyone. "Wolf behind us!" I unfortunately didn''t have the word for coyote yet, even though I could recognize the difference. Aria was quick to shoot an arrow at it, but the coyote dodged the arrow before it had even been loosed as if it knew what was about to happen. The coyote leapt at Luna but I dashed in its path just in time to bat it out of the air. The coyote yelped and rolled, but it scrambled back to its feet. I hadn''t had time to do anything but knock it away with my claws in the time I had to block for Luna. I could feel the warm heat of Luna''s magic collecting behind me, but I knew from experience that it would take a little while before she could cast it. Another arrow whizzed by but the coyote dodged it again, as if it knew the attack was coming. Piper dashed forward and slashed at it and managed to clip it on the side just as it had dodged the arrow. A second coyote dashed out of the brush ahead of us and slammed into Maxwell''s shield. He had been blocking from that direction, he must have seen the other one before I did. I dropped my axe and dashed forward again, even managing to score a good hit, but the moment I connected I heard Luna''s voice ring in my head. ("Helena dodge!") I jumped back and just after, Luna released her magic and caught the coyote in her exploding fireball. Right after that, I heard the other coyote yelp and when I turned I saw that Maxwell had bashed the other coyote with his shield right into Piper who had stabbed her sword all the way through its chest. Licking my lips I turned back to the charred coyote and looked over at Luna. She just chuckled and nodded toward it, so I began to sink my teeth into the coyote. The meat tasted a little bland but okay. It wasn''t completely devoid of mana but it wasn''t as rich as the misty wolves were. At least the meat didn''t taste weird like the misty wolves. I bit into the heart and swallowed it in a few bites. I shivered as I felt the mana flow into me but I didn''t seem to get anything particularly noticeable. It looked like these would be another mystery for the pile, perhaps I would get some form of precognition to dodge projectiles like they had done. At least this one didn''t mess up my legs or something equally annoying like the bloody rabbits had. When I finished up I turned around to the gruesome sight of Maxwell pulling the coyote''s teeth out one by one with pliers. I almost gagged and had to look away. Aria suddenly laughed. "That''s what grosses you out? We watch you eat raw monster meat all the time and you get grossed out by Maxwell pulling its teeth?" "I had a bad experience at the... teeth doctor as a child," I grumbled back at her. She shook her head and chuckled as walked past me to collect her arrows. "Oh, by the way. The word for those monsters is coyote not wolf. I wasn''t sure if you didn''t know they were different or just didn''t have the word for them. You only ever come across one or two of them at a time, unlike wolves." I nodded. "I did know they were different, but didn''t know the word. Thanks." She laughed. "No problem." She examined one of her missed arrows. "Still intact after hitting a rock and bouncing off. These things are made of good metal." She cleaned the dirt off of it and returned it to her quiver. We had to wait around a little while for Maxwell to pull all the teeth from both coyotes. Apparently they sold really well despite the relative ease that they were to fight. It had been the first monster he had stopped to collect something from in a while. It made me wonder why coyote teeth were more useful than misty wolf teeth, but I wasn''t going to bother asking. Just thinking about the bag full of animal teeth he was sliding into his bag grossed me out. Once we were moving again I bumped Luna with my shoulder. ("So what were you thinking about when the coyote attacked? You seemed to be thinking hard about something at the time.") She looked at me for a moment then shrugged. ("I was just wondering why you only get something out of unique monsters. You don''t get anything from second or third hearts even when you try eating them. I''m just a little curious why.") ("Nothing makes sense about this power,") I replied shaking my head. ("Why me? Why do I keep the glowing eyes when I''m human? Most of the other changes haven''t left as much of an impact on me, so why was the umber hound different? Did it do something to me? Was it because I accidentally drank its blood? Or was it because I came to this world at all? All I remember is falling through the ground and passing out. When I woke up I was stuck there and tortured until I turned into an umber hound myself. Am I even partially human anymore or am I something else entirely?") Luna looked at me sadly and patted my shoulder. ("I''m sure that we can find someone who might know more about what happened to you when we reach the surface. We might need to be careful who we talk to, but someone probably knows more about what happened to you up there.") I reached up at scratched the back of my furry head, careful not to cut myself with my sharp claws. This form feels so natural to stay in now. Before I felt like I was overcompensating because I was scared, but now things are different. This form feels like me just as much as my human form does. We continued on for another few hours, only running into more coyotes and a few hawks. We still hadn''t come across those acid lizards but I was a little scared to. What if my instincts insist that I try and eat its heart even if its acid blood burns me? I shivered at the thought. I''ll just have to try to redirect my instincts toward something else. It wouldn''t be the first time I managed to ignore them, even if it was hard. About halfway through the floor to Maxwell''s estimation, we decided to make camp and tackle the rest of this floor after we rested. We found a decent spot under some of the trees that were partially shaded despite the sparse foliage. It might be a challenge to sleep in the daylight but at least it wasn''t that hot here. Chapter 60

<~> Chapter 60 I woke up feeling kind of hot. I was lying on a blanket in the shade but the temperature of this floor was enough to make me feel a bit overheated. The cute foxgirl lying next to me wasn''t helping either, but it''s hard to be mad about that. I was still in my larger werewolf form and Luna has told me in the past that my fur feels a bit chilly to the touch. If it is, I can''t tell. It doesn''t feel any different to me than when I first woke up like this. I ran my fingers through Luna''s hair and took a moment to play with her ears. The fur on her ears was really soft and they were fun to mess with, but it felt pretty awkward to mess with them when she was awake. Her ear flicked cutely to my teasing and I had to stop myself before I woke her up this way. Instead, I closed my eyes and gently pet her hair while waking up. I''m not sure how long I was asleep but I feel rested for the most part. Even if I''m a bit groggy, I don''t think I''d be able to go back to sleep anyway, it was too bright out for that. Luna mumbled something and her eyes blinked open. When she realized I was looking at her she smiled and nuzzled herself into my fur again. ("Morning sleepyhead,") I joked. Luna let out a contented sigh and rested her head against me. ("Were you playing with my ears when I was sleeping?") ("Uh, why do you ask?") I had trouble keeping the guilt out of my ''mental'' voice. She giggled. ("I was dreaming something nice... Did you sleep okay?") ("Decently. I''m still a little sleepy but I don''t think I''d be able to get back to sleep anymore.") Luna rubbed her face against my chest again. ("Mmm, we better get up soon then.") Despite her words, she made no move to get off of me or let me go, it seemed she was enjoying herself too much. I gently started petting her hair again which elicited another sigh from her. Her long fox tail lazily waved back and forth behind her, barely high enough that it wasn''t dragging through the dirt. "You two seem really close." Aria''s words broke Luna''s relaxed mood and she jumped up in surprise at the sneaky catgirl. "No no, don''t mind me. Keep going," Aria said with a grin. Luna checked over her clothes to make sure everything was in place and stood up awkwardly. She looked a bit more frazzled than usual, like she was embarrassed about being caught lazing on me, but I think I was missing something here. Must be a cultural difference, I have no idea what we were doing that would warrant this much embarrassment. ("Helena, will you ask her to give us a moment?") ("Sure.") I turned to Aria. "Luna asked for a moment alone. We''re up now, no need to worry." Aria chuckled. "Sure, sure. Hurry up you ...., once you''re ready we''re going to get moving again." I turned to look at Luna but rather than give me the word I missed she just blushed and looked away. I sighed. Aria must have said something embarrassing and it went right over my head. Aria stood up and walked away from the bedroll we were sharing. ("You okay?") I asked Luna once Aria had left. ("Y-yes. I''m fine.") I raised an eyebrow, ("We weren''t doing something embarrassing that I''m not aware of, were we?") Luna looked away shyly. ("It''s not... usual for fianc¨¦s to sleep together like this. I-I mean, this hardly counts anyway. It''s just a bedroll in the sand so I didn''t think it would be too much or anything...") ("Does sleeping on the same bedroll or bed mean something special in this case?") I asked. ("Well... not directly but it implies that we''re uh, intimate with each other. That wasn''t my intention to imply though! I just like lying against you... and your fur is really cool...") Luna was blushing pretty bright pink. Not the most embarrassed I''ve seen her, but much more than usual. ("How strict are people about sex here?") Luna practically choked when she heard my words. ("It''s um, intended to be between married people only... It''s not like... intimacy outside of marriage is unheard of but... most people would consider that improper...") ("Even between women?") I asked curiously. ("...what difference would that make?") she asked with confusion in her voice. ("Ah, never mind that. Where I come from people are a lot more casual about sex, most people do it long before getting engaged. Uh... n-not that I expect that of you of course. I wouldn''t want to break any heavy cultural taboos but... I guess sex doesn''t hold the same amount of weight for me as it probably does for you,") I told her honestly. ("Oh gods, you keep saying it without any hint of shame...") she was blushing red as a tomato now. It was a little surprising but maybe I shouldn''t be. I laughed a little. ("Is sex like a curse word here? What does the word fuck sound like to you then?") ("H-Helena! Please... That''s so... graphic...") Luna cleared her throat and took a step away. ("I''m going to go see how the others are doing...") She walked over to the firepit and got a bowl of stew. The others were whispering about how embarrassed Luna looked and were speculating on what I had said to her. It was a bit amusing that none of them were even remotely close to guessing what we were talking about. I joined her next to the fire and quietly dug into my own bowl of stew. "That''s the last of the Venison," Maxwell told me. "Do we have any other fresh meat?" I asked.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "We still have plenty of the bison meat and some bloody rabbit meat left," he replied. I took another bite of my stew and savored the taste. "Will that last us the rest of the dungeon? Or are we going to have to hunt something else?" "It''ll be more than enough, we might need to sell some of it when we get back," Maxwell replied. I nodded and took another bite of the stew. "I heard the next floor is hard, what''s it like? What''s the plan?" Maxwell nodded. "The lost halls. At first, the floor looks like one of the maze floors but with white walls and thick fog. The problem is that the floor tries to separate groups. The monsters shouldn''t be difficult for any of us but we''ll need to use the last of our guiding rods to get through alone if we get separated from the rest of the group. If you''re alone the floor changes, it takes .... from your .... and .... them to scare and .... you." I tapped Luna on the elbow. ("It takes memories from your past and twists them to frighten and unnerve you.") I nodded to Maxwell and he continued, having noticed I needed help with that last sentence. "Once you''re separated, we think you get moved somewhere else on the floor alone. You have to find your way to the correct stairs while your memories try to trick you into letting your guard down. This floor can be very unpleasant for people with .... issues, and you can''t even help each other through them once you''ve been separated. Even if the monsters aren''t challenging to face, you might need to traverse the entire floor twice if you''re unlucky. Guiding rods are the key to getting through, but we might be able to conserve some if you can navigate through the floor without them. Assuming you don''t get separated. That''s why I intend to split the remaining ones I have between us. If you get separated, you will have to meet us at the stairs going up. The staircase rooms are safe." "You''re the only one here who''s never been through the floor before," Piper said seriously. "It can be quite intense and depending on how the dungeon decides to torment you, it could be quite stressful or an easy floor. It all depends on you." I frowned and looked down at the dirt. This floor sounds like the kind of thing that tries to attack your insecurities. The more you have, and the more intense they are, the worse off you''ll be. The part that makes me nervous is what it''ll decide to throw at me. I''m not a basket case but I definitely have my issues. I was a little bit worried about it now. "The best case .... is that we make it through the maze without getting separated," Maxwell continued. "The monsters on this floor don''t attack you unless you''re alone and the maze isn''t difficult to navigate when you''re in a group." I sighed. "How likely are we to make it through without getting separated?" "We''ve made it through that way less than one-fourth of the time," he replied. "Great..." I said sarcastically. "How many guiding rods should each of us need?" "I have three for everyone, that should be enough even if you have to navigate the entire thing alone," he said with a nod. Fifteen plus the ones he used on other floors, it seems he brought a lot of those with him. He pulled over his pack and started separating the guiding rods into little wrapped bundles before handing them out to each of us to store. It was pretty nice that Aria and I got new bags from that chest on the clockwork floor. "How do I turn it on?" I asked. He gestured at Luna, who turned to me. ("Don''t do it yet, but all you have to do is push some of your mana into it. It takes almost no mana to activate, but you do need enough control to push mana into them.") ("Mana? How do I do that?") She tilted her head. ("You do it all the time with your axe, just do what you do there to activate the sharpening and cleaning enchantments.") I stared blankly at her. ("What? I haven''t intentionally activated anything. This axe has a sharpening and cleaning enchantment on it?") Luna''s eyebrows rose in surprise. ("You haven''t been activating it intentionally? You activated the enchantments every time we started a fight, I thought you figured it out on your own.") "What''s happening you two?" Piper asked. I frowned before turning to her. "Luna was trying to tell me how to activate the guiding rod. It''s the same as activating the enchantment on my axe but I didn''t know I was doing that this whole time." Piper glanced at Maxwell who returned the look she was giving him. Suddenly he stood up and carefully drew his silvery blue sword. "Take this for a moment and try to activate it." I grabbed the hilt of the sword and suddenly the blade began to glow much brighter before I let go again. "Whoa, what happened?" Piper glanced at Luna before nodding. "It looks like you aren''t .... your mana and it''s flowing into whatever you''re touching. The only reason none of us noticed it sooner is because your axe doesn''t look any different when it uses its enchantment. ("I can see the mana though. You''re not blasting it constantly, only when you are about to wield something,") Luna added. "It''s good that I gave them to you wrapped, you may have wasted all three of them on accident," Maxwell said with a relieved sigh. "You won''t have any trouble activating them, just be careful not to touch them before you need them and only handle one of them at a time," Piper said before finishing off her food. Luna patted my arm. ("Don''t worry, I''ll help you learn to regulate your mana when we have some time. It''ll take too long to do it before the next floor, but we can work on it on the first five fours and in town once we reach the surface.") ("Is mana regulation all that important?") I asked. ("Normally, yes, very much so. But for you? It''s not that important. Most people with half the amount of mana you have would use magic to fight. For you, it mostly just fuels your transformation and your regeneration but you have so much mana that it doesn''t matter if you waste a lot of it. Proper regulation would allow you to stretch your magic farther and recycle some of what you would have lost, but the only things that tap into your mana pool right now seem to have a very efficient conversion so you aren''t wasting much.") ("What does all of that have to do with the guiding rods?") I asked, getting back on track. Luna shrugged ("Well, normally people have to be taught to let mana through their ''gates,'' for you, the gates are all wide open and you''re leaking it everywhere. Your mana is so bright to me I couldn''t tell that it wasn''t being properly regulated, any item that reacts with mana will probably be filled to the brim without you intending to.") ("Is it hard to learn?") I asked nervously. ("It shouldn''t be, though most people learn to do it the other way around, so it might be a bit of a novel challenge. But I''m sure we''ll figure it out!") I sighed. ("I''m glad you''re so optimistic.") Chapter 61

<~> Chapter 61 The rest of the mountainous floor wasn''t too difficult. The hardest part was keeping proper footing on the tenuous hiking trail the entire time. We mostly fought the coyotes the entire way, but we did eventually come across some of those acid blood lizards I had been warned about. Luckily for me, my umber wolf instincts seemed horrified by the idea of eating one of those, my worries that they would force me to eat something that would hurt me was unfounded. It was a bit curious that my instincts seemed to know about them though. The innate instincts I gained when I became a partial umber hound seemed weirdly specific sometimes, like a trove of gathered knowledge. The instincts sometimes felt like they were operating on rules that weren''t obvious to me. Regardless, I didn''t end up eating the heart of one of the poison lizards. Eventually our group found ourselves at the bottom of the stairs to the floor I had been warned about all this time. After the long flight of stairs that separated the floors, we found ourselves in the first room of the sixth floor. The walls of this floor were bright grey-white and were made of a smooth matte stone. There were imperfections in the stone but none that would stand out enough to register as a landmark. To my blindfolded magic sight, the walls all glowed much more brightly than the other maze floors. The walls themselves were probably part of the trick. The ceiling glowed with a bright light that reminded me of harsh fluorescent bulbs, making the entire place feel reminiscent of a hospital. "If the monsters don''t attack you until you''re alone, how do people get separated?" I asked. Maxwell shook his head. "I''m not sure. People just disappear. They look away from each other for only a moment and then they vanish." Maxwell was already unpacking the same rope we had used as a lifeline over the pit in the clockwork room. All five of us attached the rope line to our belts and prepared for the trip ahead. "Do you feel any air currents on this floor Helena?" Piper asked. "I can''t feel them in my human form." I shifted to my werewolf form and focused on the sensation that was flowing against my whiskers. The air was mostly stagnant in this room but I could feel the prickle of airflow coming from the open archway ahead of us. "I think I feel it. It''ll be easier to tell once we''re in the actual maze." Maxwell took a second rope and using a practiced knot, looped it around my waist and attached it to the lifeline so that I could be in my wolf form for this trip. "We''ll follow the airflow for a while and see where it leads us. If we don''t seem to be going the right direction or making any progress I''ll activate a guiding rod. We need to .... them if we can, in case we get separated. Helena, you''re in front. Keep a hold of this rope so you can keep it taught. If the line falls, you''ll have been separated from us. Everyone else, always keep your eyes on the person in front of you, don''t let them out of your sight," Maxwell said. This time our order was Me, Maxwell, Aria, Luna, Piper. I took a deep breath and began to lead our group forward, into the painfully bright white hallways. The group was tense. I got the feeling that while everyone here but I had experienced this floor, it wasn''t a happy experience. The structure of this floor felt different from the mazes on the other floors. They tended to have winding paths that usually ended in T-intersections. This maze nearly always ended in four-way intersections and the hallways only occasionally turned. Sometimes we would reach an intersection where one or two of the paths visibly ended in a dead end, completely visible from the intersection, something the other floors had never done. For some reason, the structure of the maze itself was somewhat disconcerting compared to the previous floors. While I was walking someone behind me suddenly stopped and I turned to look behind me. Piper was missing. ("Piper''s rope just went slack,") Luna said with more calm than I felt. Maxwell sighed. "Piper is gone. We should keep moving, it''s possible for Piper to make it through before us. There''s nothing we can do now, we''ll try to make it all the way through and wait for everyone that gets separated at the end." "Do you think I''m taking us in the right direction?" I asked. "I would guess that we are going the right way. The kind of path you''re taking feels similar to the path that we would take using a guiding rod," he reassured me. "It seemed accurate before so I think it''s worth following to conserve the guiding rods until we need one." We continued on like this but the anxiety of the situation was starting to get to me. The only solace I felt was that the people disappearing weren''t actually dead. They were just being transported to a different part of the maze. I was told that everyone on this floor was strong enough to handle the monsters on their own and everyone had gone through this before but me. Out of all of us, I was in the most danger if I found myself separated and while that idea might have frightened me in the past, I now felt confident I could figure out how to deal with whatever would come my way. We kept walking for another thirty minutes or so before I stumbled when the rope pulled against me suddenly. "Aria''s gone!" Maxwell said in shock. He glanced at Luna and frowned. "How did she go missing from between us?"This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Luna''s ears went back and her eyes met mine. ("I accidentally looked at the back of your head for a moment and she disappeared.") "Luna looked at me for a moment," I told Maxwell. Maxwell''s face hardened but he shook his head. "She''s plenty well equipped to make it through. It''s good that we gave her some weapons." He didn''t cast any blame on Luna but I could tell that she felt guilty for the mistake she made. Maxwell readjusted the rope for the three of us and we continued on. Only two intersections later I turned to look down a hallway and felt the rope fall slack behind me. My eyes snapped around but the place where my rope had been connected to Maxwell hung limply in my hand. The change to the walls was dramatic. The obnoxiously bright light of the hallways faded to pitch darkness and it was only because of my brightly shining eyes that I could see the walls moving and rearranging themselves. With a lurch all of the walls suddenly changed, a different configuration of hallways surrounded me than the ones I had been looking at a moment before. These walls too moved, opening and closing new passages until they finally settled. Large glass paned windows opened up in the walls ahead of me, the orange and white streetlamps of my home city illuminated the hallways I was in, revealing rows of huge doors and school lockers along the walls. The ceilings looked taller as well, giving me the impression I had shrunk. I stared out the window. I could see the city from where I was standing. The occasional car drove by, bright headlights streamed through the windows and cast long shadows on the walls of the school building I appeared to be in. I rested my claws against the glass before letting them sink in. The texture of the glass felt real but once I got an inch deep I could tell that it wasn''t glass at all but just an illusion on the thick stone of the dungeon. I carved a long deep line in the stone and looked at the odd sight of the deep gash surrounded by a view that didn''t reflect it. It reminded me of a scratch on a television screen. I turned away from the fake illusion on the wall of the dungeon and bristled a little. This felt cruel. I shouldn''t be surprised, this was what I was warned of, but the sight stoked the nostalgia and longing I had for my home. Feelings that I had pushed away since I had become stuck here in this world. A world that I only knew of from my friends'' stories and the walls of the hostile place I found myself in. Before I continued on I untied the rope from myself and wrapped it up after shifting to my human form. As I put the rope away in my bag I stared at the walls through the blindfold. Through it, all I could see was the flat walls of the maze, the familiar illusion of my home hidden from me. I considered going through the maze-like this but decided against it. I was always more effective in my wolf form and if the dungeon wanted to flaunt my trauma at me, then I would just deal with it. Besides, I could only use my whiskers to navigate in my wolf form. Shifting back, I took a breath and glanced over at the deep gash in the wall that was already repairing itself. In a minute or two the gash would be completely healed as if it had never been there. The maze floors always healed more quickly than the cave floor I had originally woken up in, but the damage to the walls here healed even faster. Everything about this maze seemed intended to disorient you and distract you from escaping, and the maze wasn''t going to let you progress by marking the walls. My whiskers felt the flow of the air and if the movement could still be trusted, the maze had dumped me out facing the wrong direction. Another trick to make someone lose their way. I sighed and gripped the handle of my axe and started walking in the direction of the airflow. I paused in surprise when I came across a door that had a name plaque next to it. Aliandra Pierce - Assistant Principal I tilted my head in confusion, the plaque was written in English but I didn''t recognize the name. Deciding to satisfy my curiosity I cautiously opened the door that led to a slightly messy office. It was as huge in scale as everything else was, a giant desk and towering bookcases that held giant books. I looked around the room carefully but I didn''t see any monsters or illusions other than the ones on the walls. I climbed my way up onto one of the giant chairs like I was a short child and pulled myself up to the towering desk to look over the papers and books piled there. The papers were gibberish. They looked to be forms of some kind but the boxes were filled with nonsense that didn''t mean anything. It was odd that the paper looked so convincingly like a typical form someone would fill out, yet the actual words on the page were meaningless. I pulled open one of the giant books and flipped through the pages. Again, everything about the book looked like it was real but the actual content made no sense. This particular book had both a table of contents and an index but nothing listed there contained meaningful sentences. Just random English words spilled out on the page in ways that didn''t make sense. The index wasn''t even alphabetized despite having sections broken up by letter. I closed the book and looked around. This place was strange. This place looked like a weird mixture of my elementary school and my high school. I had only visited an office like this a few times that I could remember but it looked convincingly like what you might expect from an office like this. This entire place was unnerving sure, but not as... scary or traumatic as I had expected. I climbed back down off of the desk and took a peek through the drawers. More papers and files but amusingly I found a giant bottle of what I assumed to be alcohol in one of the drawers. The label was just as garbled as the rest of the papers were. I considered taking it with me but I didn''t even know if it was real and if the books had been that garbled I didn''t trust this liquid to actually be alcohol. It could just as easily be poison. Walking back through the door of the office and into the hallway, I gently closed the door behind me. I hadn''t run into any monsters yet but this place did give me the creeps. I looked out of one of the windows and stared at the fake city off in the distance. There were no landmarks I could recognize or signs I could read, it was just a vision of a city that vaguely looked like my home. I opened the next door on the same wall as the office and peered through it. There was a large classroom that looked like a science lab or something similar. There were various beakers and papers around but nothing that looked valuable enough to bother with. Notably the classroom was long enough that it and the office would have taken up the same area, meaning that the space on this floor was warped. I closed the door and shook my head. What a strange... and lonely place. I missed my friends. I sighed and walked through the halls, following the flow of air with my heavy axe on my shoulder. It was going to be a long day. I could feel it. Chapter 62

<~> Chapter 62 - Piper I hate this floor. I held up the guiding rod and watched the sparks flow down the hallway on the right. Every time I got separated on this floor it took me back to a time I''d like to forget. I stopped for a moment to look at the rough wood of the walls. It looked just like the cheap shack of a house I grew up in. The air was cold, reminiscent of a time deep in the winter when I was first reminded of what my role in life would be, whether I liked it or not. My stomach turned when I ran into one of the horrid monsters on this floor. I dashed forward and slammed my shield into the monster''s body before quickly removing its head from its shoulders. A splatter of blood sprayed out, much more than would be normal for a real person but I think it was exaggerated because of the memory this represented. I looked down at the monster that had stolen the form of my best friend. The fox-eared head looked up at me with its dead eyes. The face of the monster that looked like Luna always looked wrong to me. Poorly formed, not quite accurate. It was the only reason I had been able to deal with this floor the first time through. In the dungeon''s cruelty, the monsters always took the form of the Luna from two years ago. Young, but always dead. I wasn''t required to slay the doppelgangers of my best friend alive, no, I had to face shadows twisted to look like her walking corpse. A reminder of what would have happened had I been just a little bit worse at healing magic. In this fake world that looked like the shack I grew up in, I was forced to slay monsters that looked like the corpse of my best friend over and over and over. Pulling my jacket tighter around myself I continued on. I continued to follow the guiding rod around the bends and twists of this awful maze that taunted me with my lot in life. Inside this place I was shown what would have happened had I failed to save her and in the real world, I was forced to see the awful job I had done instead. I hate this floor. From a young age, I knew I had a gift for the healing arts. Our backwater town healer made a point to test each and every child to see if they had potential. The very first time I was tested, my potential was clear. I would make a brilliant healer, someone who could save lives, grow stronger, and gain wealth, even in the backwater town that I grew up in. But I never wanted to be a healer. Like my brother, I enjoyed fighting with swords and shields. The two of us were troublemakers right from the start. We climbed trees, pulled pranks on everyone in our small town, and played knight with everyone who would tolerate us. For a moment a grin came across my face when I pictured little Luna, one of the few people who would always play with us, only for it to be wiped away as another of the monsters with my friend''s face threw itself at me. Like I had done maybe hundreds of times now, I bashed the young looking monster away and removed its head. It was dressed in nothing but rags, just like the night Luna had run to our house holding the gash in her throat closed as best as she could. It was a wonder she had even made it before choking on her own blood. If she had run to the actual healer she would have died along the way in the middle of the street. Instead, she had run to our house, scared, dying, and bleeding profusely. Just like that night, these monster''s rags were covered in their blood, freely pouring from their open necks. With an upset stomach, I looked away from the monster and continued on in the cold, following the glowing sparks of the guiding rod. I had never really liked the cold and winter even less. Snow was a bother and in the winter months, we rarely were allowed to run free and play. And now the winter is just another reminder of how close I had come to losing my best friend because I refused to develop my strengths. Maxwell and I sparred with wooden swords every day. Once we finished with our chores we would run to grab our hand-carved weapons and beat each other black and blue with them until we could barely move. The only value I saw in my healing magic, and the only reason I had any skill with it at all at the time, was to clear up the bruises and cuts we would give each other and avoid getting punished. Had it not been for the meager training I allowed the village healer to give me, my best friend would be dead. Dead like all of these walking corpses that tormented me on this horrible floor. I stopped for a moment and looked back at one of the corpses. Bloody footprints trailed behind me from the ridiculous amount of blood these things released. These things already looked dead, how could they still have that much blood? Why did the blood spray out like a fountain every time I removed one of their heads? Like everything on this miserable floor, merely to torment me further. By the time I reached the end of this floor, I would invariably be completely covered in blood from head to toe, only serving to beat into me that being the group''s healer was the only path I was allowed to take. The only relief this floor would give me is that when I eventually made it to the stairs I would be clean as if nothing had even happened. I don''t think I would be able to stand it if they asked me why I was covered in so much blood.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Maxwell and Luna never asked what this floor was like for me after I refused to answer the first time. I think they understood how hard this floor was on me. I can''t talk about it. It''s too much. But I have delved this floor many times now. It was becoming easier every time I passed through this place. I don''t know if that sat better with me or worse. I was becoming desensitized to killing my best friend''s doppelgangers, yet I somehow continued to move to even darker thoughts as time went on. Why did I have to be the one with such good affinity for the healing arts? The question that always came up as I trudged through this wretched place that made me feel intensely guilty. It was only because of that affinity that I had been able to save my best friend''s life. I had hardly even trained my healing magic and I still managed to save her. Yet... because I had hardly trained it, I had left her isolated from the world, unable to speak. At least, speak without the rings. If I had loved my healing magic a little bit more, perhaps I could have healed her properly. If Maxwell had been the one with such an affinity, perhaps he would have taken to the calling more seriously. Instead, I was the worst of both. A strength that I didn''t love and the burden of its responsibility. I would have sighed if I wasn''t facing another two of these monsters. They weren''t able to touch me anymore. Too slow. Too weak. Yet every time I killed one of them it frayed at my nerves. After wiping the thick illusory blood from my face, I leaned heavily against the scratchy wall. I swore I could hear the howling of the icy wind roaring past. Another illusion. Another thing to chip away and my dwindling sanity. Only other healers understand the weight that this kind of magic has on you. One lapse of attention and my patient could die. One mistake and my best friend could be permanently disabled. Even if I do everything right, my ally that''s been trying to impress me to get into my pants could die anyway. It sucked. I hated it. But it was necessary and after I accepted it, I had used this magic to save the lives of my friends more times than I could count. I still didn''t like how gross using the diagnostic magic made me feel. One of the reasons I originally didn''t like being a healer was because of how gross it is. Could you imagine I was once afraid of blood? The thought made me laugh as I wiped the blood from my face once again. The sparks of my guiding rod faded to nothingness, making me frown. I had been walking for a while, I must have been moved to the far side of the maze. So that this evil place could torment me longer. I pulled a second guiding rod from my pack and pushed some of my mana inside to bring it to life. The moment the rod lit the path once again, four more of the dead Lunas flung themselves at me making me scramble behind my shield. I grit my teeth and pushed two of them to the ground with my shield before spinning and decapitating the one on my right. The one on my left tore into my left arm and tore my arm open through the sleeve of my jacket. I ignored the pain and stabbed the monster through the eye as my magic sealed the wound up as if nothing had ever happened. My magic was even more effective and efficient on myself. My healing arts which allowed me to shrug off mortal wounds and keep fighting as if I hadn''t even been injured was one of the few things that I truly liked about this strength. It made me a brutally tenacious fighter. Wreathed in my healing magic I had been able to heal through broken bones and destroyed organs without even being slowed down. Even receiving a normally lethal blow to the heart wasn''t the death sentence it would be for others. It let me fight like something akin to one of the berserkers of the north, unyielding and undaunted as long as my magic lasted. The only reason I didn''t fight like that more often was that it was more important to keep my magic in reserve for the others. Helena joining our group had been a huge boon for me. She rarely needed healing and was even able to pass along messages from little Luna without taxing my mana, especially since she''s gotten better at our language. Not to mention the slime cores that we had time to hunt for because of her. She''s one of the few allies that could join us and free up more of my mana than she cost. I looked over my torn sleeve and grimaced. Unlike the fake blood staining my clothes, this would need to be repaired. I normally got through this floor without taking any hits but they had caught me off guard when I changed my guiding rod. In the meantime, my shield arm would be cold. I wonder if this place was cold for the others. Honestly, I wouldn''t be surprised if this floor was similar for the others. I know the night Luna''s father tried to kill her was a bad memory for all of us. The chance of Luna''s memory being about that night is probably really high. I''m not sure about my brother. Maxwell is really stoic but even he doesn''t like to talk about that night. And because I don''t want to share what this floor is like with the others, they haven''t told me about their experiences either. We just don''t talk about it... I can''t talk about it. Another pair of fake Lunas rushed at me and died with little trouble. Something about the fights being this easy turned my stomach as well. It made me feel like a monster to cut down so many girls who looked like the Luna from two years ago. It made me feel sick. Finally, a white door was at the end of the hallway and I let out a sigh of relief when I saw it. The golden sparks led right up to it and I knew from prior trips through this place that I had finally made it through. Only two guiding rods, it had taken a while but it could have been worse. I placed my hand on the handle of the door and took a deep breath. When I finally settled my emotions, I opened the door and stepped through, finally free of the sticky overbearing feeling of the false blood I had been drenched in. I could hear sobbing when I walked through the door and I quickly rushed to the corner where Aria had curled up into a ball. My healing magic rushed through her body, only fixing minor bruises and scratches. "Aria! What''s wrong?" The catgirl wiped her red eyes and looked up at me. "T-the sixth floor changed for me..." Chapter 63

<~> Chapter 63 - Aria I tripped... and unfortunately, like every other time I''ve come through this floor, I was going to have to navigate it on my own again. At least this floor has never been as bad for me as it has been for everyone else I''ve ever come through with. This place always just looked like the alleys of my hometown with some faceless bullies that used to pick on me. I stood still and waited for the walls to go dark and change like they always did. At least this time I would have guiding rods to get through here, the one time I had to navigate through this floor without one was a huge pain. When the walls lit back up they didn''t... look the same. Rather than the course stone and brick walls I was used to in the city... they were the mangled metal walls of the bloody halls with thick green roots broken through them. The floor also had given way to grass and above the walls was the canopy of trees from the fourteenth floor with the gentle sunlight streaming through them. I had never heard of this floor changing for someone... I lit up a guiding rod and frowned at the sparks that flew in the opposite direction I was facing. I sighed and turned around. I was sick of the dungeon''s bullshit. I slipped the guiding rod into my belt and pulled out a pair of my new daggers. I loved the feel of them and their weight in my hands. They were even more comfortable than the normal ones I had gathered from that floor in the past. I was considering saving up for a forged pair in the city before this delve, but with what I would probably have to pay to Maxwell for bringing me back up, I didn''t like my chances of affording a new set anymore. I was much happier with the ones made from the strange blue metal rather than a pair of the cheaper forged ones I had seen in the city anyway. Let''s just hope I can convince his group to let me keep them. Not to mention the bow. When I first took a step I realized something odd about the grass. Unlike the soft and healthy green grass of the fourteenth floor, most of the grass here was dead and crunchy. It would be much more difficult to walk quietly through this stuff. The enemies had never been especially difficult for me but it was something that stood out to me after all the scouting I''ve done. I continued on, following the trails of sparks as they led me through the strange mix of outside hallways. I knew from my first experience with this place that the open sky above me was an illusion. After seeing the buildings of my hometown repurposed into a maze, my first thought was to climb them of course. The walls stopped only a little higher up than the white walls had originally been and the ceiling was just an illusion. A very convincing one, but an illusion all the same. I knew these wouldn''t be any different and much more annoying to climb. I walked with some caution but I didn''t spend any time moving quietly. It would slow me down way too much with the way the grass has changed. Right now my concerns had more to do with the life of the three guiding rods Maxwell gave me and not with the enemies I might run into. Briskly, I followed the twists and turns of the maze and quickly confirmed that I''d have been completely lost had it not been for the guiding rod. It was borderline obnoxious how many turns I was forced to make. It was with this somewhat relaxed atmosphere that I ran into... him. "Rodrick?" I gaped. I knew it wasn''t him... it wouldn''t be, not on this floor, but... "Ariaaaaa, you left me to DIE!" A desiccated husk of my former human teammate lunged at me with his bent rapier, vines were crawling under his skin and blood poured out of his missing eyes. Impossible amounts of blood, just like the corpses on the back of that spider monster we killed on the thirteenth floor. I dodged his lunge, the husk of my friend stumbled, completely unlike the nimble duelist Rodrick had been. Gripping my dagger tightly in my hand I was about to go for a backstab but... I couldn''t. It was Rodrick! It wasn''t but... Gritting my teeth, I ran. Rodrick was still alive, he had to be. Maybe not Tirbeck or Dylan, but surely Rodrick. He was always the smartest of our group, the safest. I still didn''t remember what happened but I wouldn''t leave them to die and Rodrick would surely get out of anything. I looked up to him, there was no way he would have died to a plant. We must have gotten separated in the forest, they wouldn''t have left me and I would never have left them... Right? "ARIAAAAA" I leapt out of the way of the bolt of fire that had been thrown perpendicular to the hallway I had been running through. That had to be Tirbeck. "YOU KILLED US!" the monster screamed after me with Tirbeck''s voice. I glanced behind me and now two of them were shambling after me. I''d normally be able to outrun them but their legs were pulsing with disgusting vines that made their legs look unnaturally long. The two of them were moving faster than either of them had ever run, not even Rodrick had been as fast as I was. In the quick glance I had behind me, I could see Tirbeck''s blood-covered blue robes were torn and shredded leaving grotesque rotten flesh below it. The beastkin''s canine ears had been torn off and plants were growing from his bared skull. Like Rodrick, it looked like he had been killed by the plants growing from his body. I heard the telltale crackle of another firebolt being cast and I dodged to the side, only narrowly avoiding being caught on the rusty walls. The grass in front of me was caught ablaze but without any other choice, I covered my face and dashed through the fire. It was weak. The fire magic was a poor imitation of Tirbeck. I knew they weren''t real but... I can''t. Sliding on the dead grass, I sharply turned a corner after the golden sparks that were leading the way for me. After turning the corner, I turned another corner. It wasn''t the right direction but it would break line of sight. I hopped through the grass, doing my best to avoid the dead crunchy stuff that would give me away, and crouched after turning another corner. I caught my breath and perked my ears. My hearing wasn''t as good as the umber hound''s was but it should be good enough for this. I waited and held my breath when I heard them coming. They ran right past where I was hiding. They didn''t stop to consider the hallway I had darted into. Once I heard their loud steps fade around another corner, I quietly retraced my steps back to the correct path. I didn''t stop moving even as my first guiding rod died. I slipped the dead rod into my bag before pulling out another and pushing my paltry mana into it. When the new one came to life, I slipped it into my belt where the other one had been.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. I''m on rod two of three. As much as I''d love to take this slow I didn''t have time for that, I had to get out before I ran out of these things. I wiped the tears out of my eyes and the sweat off my brow before continuing down the path in a fast walk. I needed to go at a decent pace but I couldn''t spend all my energy in case I had to run again. "Aria," a voice whispered behind me. I spun around just in time to take a fist to my gut that threw me off my feet and onto my back. I looked up at Dylan. I always thought he was huge, but looking up at him like this made him feel even bigger. We had always joked that the human had some bear-blood in him because the monk could wrestle down even the largest beastkin to the ground. Now the gentle giant was the most frightening of the three. "It''s your fault," the monk whispered. The accusation made me freeze but I managed to roll away before the giant of a man could split my head with a kick. I scrambled to my feet and dodged another attack from the man. From Dylan. But he was slow. Normally his fists would move so fast it would take everything I had to stay out of his range but now it was like he was moving like molasses. The only reason he had been able to hit me at all was because he had gotten the drop on me and his punch didn''t even hurt as much as it should have. I turned and ran and only made it a short distance away before Rodrick and Tirbeck turned the corner in front of me. I grit my teeth and shoved the mage into the rusty metal wall before running past them in the small gap I made. I sobbed as I heard Tirbeck''s anguished scream wail out behind me. "YOU KILLED US!" Tirbeck accused again through his anguished cries. I turned corner after corner, following the sparks of the guiding rod. I just need to get out of here. They''re illusions, they aren''t real, I didn''t kill them. I wouldn''t! I didn''t! "YOU LEFT ME!" the FALSE Rodrick cried out as he lunged at me from around a blind corner. "YOU''RE NOT REAL!" I cried out, shoving Rodrick away from me. The once nimble duelist fell face-first into the rusty metal wall and slid down it screaming. When it stood up again it shrieked its accusations after me, "YOU''RE HURTING ME! YOU''RE DOING IT AGAIN! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?" I wiped the tears out of my eyes as best I could, I was crying so much it was hard to even see anymore. My hands were covered in the blood that had been pouring off of them from the brief moments I had touched the two and now the blood was smeared all over my face. I heard the sizzle of a firebolt again and dove to the ground before scrambling back up. I don''t even know where exactly this one had come from, I just blindly dodged it and kept moving. This is too much. I can''t take this. My heart sank when I ended up in a dead end. No, worse. I was in a circular room identical to the boss room I had helped fight the spider in. The only way out was a door that was wired shut in front of me, or back the way I had just come. Dylan was already here, stoically waiting for me like I had seen him do a thousand times. He slowly took a fighting stance as I numbly stared at him in front of me. Moments later the other two caught up to me from behind. Both were covered in even more blood now. Rodrick''s face and upper torso were mangled, only barely recognizable after the rusty walls had sloughed off most of his mummified flesh. He held out his bent rapier and screeched. Tirbeck threw another firebolt at me and I was forced to dodge toward Dylan. That normally would have been a death sentence against someone like him but he was so slow that I had no trouble dodging past his uncharacteristic and graceless swing. I wept as I finally accepted what I would have to do. I dashed right at Rodrick. I would never win in a regular fight against him but this husk was also slower than he should be. I deflected his rapier far easier than I should have been able to and planted my dagger straight through his bloody eye socket. With a twist, I pulled off his skull and contorted my way out of the path of another firebolt cast by Tirbeck. In the time I had been traveling with Luna, I came to appreciate her slower but more devastating attacks. Tirbeck, while a much faster caster, lacked the large area of effect spells that Luna used in nearly every fight. Perhaps it would be different if I was fighting the real Tirbeck. With a sweep of his legs the monster that looked like my friend crashed face-first into the dirt, revealing his shredded back from when I threw him into the wall earlier. I practically fell on him and stabbed my dagger through the back of his skull and once again I twisted his head off. I didn''t know what had become of my friends but monsters nearly universally needed a head to live, even the undead abominations these... things resembled. Dylan attempted to hit me with a spinning kick but I had seen this attack a hundred times before, and it was pathetically slow, a shadow of his true strength. I hamstrung him with a flash of my blade. He would be too hard to kill outright like the others, he was just too big for that. He was so much taller than me that I would need more than a short opening to kill him, I would need to completely disable the martial artist first. Normally impossible, but with how slow this thing is moving, it wasn''t even a challenge. Even with the support of the vines moving underneath his skin, I was able to break down his legs one slash at a time until he was lying on his back disabled and swinging wildly at me. This thing didn''t have any of the grace my former friend had. I screamed as I plunged my dagger through his eye and twisted Dylan''s head off. With a thump, the head fell to the ground and rolled away. I was a complete wreck and absolutely soaked in blood when I finally made it to the door. I spent the next few minutes twisting the wire blocking the door out of the metal frame, not made easier by the tears that wouldn''t stop. I had expected the three corpses of my friends to get back up at any time so I kept a wary eye on them, but they never did. Stumbling into the white room with the stairway up I fell to my knees and cried. They were all dead and it was my fault. I didn''t remember anything but I was afraid this was the truth. Would the dungeon torment me with lies? I didn''t know. I fell on my side, curled up into a ball, and sobbed. What if I killed them? What if it WAS my fault? Chapter 64

<~> Chapter 64 - Maxwell I leaned heavily against the slick wall and fought off the panic that always nearly overwhelmed me whenever I was forced to traverse this floor by myself. My heart was racing and my hand gripped the hilt of my sword tightly as I stared forward into the dark cavern paths in front of me. This floor always appeared to me as if I had been locked below the floorboards of an endless tavern, I could even hear the bustle of people above me as they sat, drank, and made merry above me while I was locked down here alone. The walls were always slick with moisture and uncomfortably close together, tight enough that I always feared getting trapped between them as I passed through. It hadn''t ever happened but my stomach dropped every time I passed through one of the many tight passageways this floor liked to inflict on me. The bright orange light of lanterns and torches through the floorboards above made it so that my eyes could never adjust to the dark and see the hidden monsters that kept me on edge and hid around every corner. My shaking hands dug the first of the guiding rods out of my bag and activated it. To my relief the sparks began to flow in front of me, I wouldn''t have to somehow turn around and go the other direction like I had so many times before. Bile rose in my throat as I pushed through the tight space and I had to stop a moment to ease my heart once I had made it through. Scratching noises and the whispers of the monsters around me echoed against the cave walls, barely audible under the ruckus above me. The monsters never attacked me on this floor. I knew they attacked the others from the small bits and pieces I had gathered from their own trials through this place, but never me. I still kept my sword in hand as I pushed through the tight passageways. They might attack me if I let my guard down. I had rarely caught glimpses of these monsters before, but they had changed a little since I had last been here. They had Helena''s glowing eyes now. Well, no, not Helena''s glowing white eyes, they had the glowing eyes of umber wolves. This cruel dungeon must have learned about my trepidation with the beasts since the last time I had come through here. I had adapted to Helena joining our group but there was still something unsettling about her eyes that still gave me pause occasionally, especially on the darker floors like this one. I trusted Helena now, she had proven herself to be a reliable friend, but there was something primal deep inside me that didn''t like it when she watched me with those white eyes. Now the monsters were watching me with them, only to run away once I started to move toward them. I occasionally had to look back behind me to make sure none would attack me from behind and I would see them scatter and hide back around rocks from that direction too. The stress of always being watched by these monsters kept me on edge even more than I had already been. This floor was far worse for me now. My heart started beating harder in my chest when I came to the next passage the rod had directed me to. A long narrow passageway that I would have to push through on my side. I hated these hallways, this floor always forced me through them at least three or four times. I rested my head against the hard moist walls and gathered my courage. I had to be careful not to panic too much on this floor, if I did then I would run out of time and my guiding rods would fail me. The only thing that kept me moving was my greater fear of being lost in this place without even a direction to go. When I opened my eyes again I saw dozens of eyes scatter away from me. I grit my teeth and shimmied my way through the tight path. The cave wall pushed against my chest and back the entire way. I was forced to hold my heavy shield awkwardly in one hand while I held my heavy pack in the other, it was the only way for me to make it through this hole without leaving anything behind. When I finally made it to the other side I had to lean against the wall and slow my breathing so that I didn''t get any more lightheaded. I gazed up at the warm light trickling through the floorboards and felt envy at all the people above me who weren''t alone up there, before once again reminding myself that the ceiling was an illusion. There wasn''t actually anyone up there. The thought almost made me feel worse. I shook my head and continued on through the tight walls designed solely to torture me as I progressed the floor. "I''m not alone. Everyone is waiting for me at the end. Everyone is okay. I''ll be fine too. I''m not alone..." I repeated these words over and over again like a prayer. I repeated them over and over and over again until the words began to lose their meaning and I forced myself to stop. I nearly panicked when a rock scraped against my hip in a way I hadn''t expected. I constantly felt like the walls were pressing in on me, or moving, and the occasional time when the walls were in a different spot than I thought they were, scared me to the bone. I couldn''t tell if the dungeon was messing with me or if it was my own imagination adding to this hell. Either could be true, this dungeon was already acting malicious, why not place another log on the fire? They''re doing it on purpose. I wish these cowardly monsters would just fight me. It''s even worse now that I can see them ducking around the corners, peeking out as I pass. This is the sixth floor, they''re probably weak. I would feel better if I could just kill them, but that''s probably the point. They don''t want to fight with me, they want me to be constantly on edge, pick away at my composure until I crack like a nut. I won''t let them. After what felt like half a day I came to another crossroad and the guiding rod told me I needed to squeeze through one of those tight hallways again. The other paths looked so much more tempting, but I knew better than to ignore this path. Only one time before had I tried to find my way around it, only to find myself back where I started with one fewer rod to show for it. I milled about at the crossroads for longer than I should have, before finally gathering the bravery to push myself through another of these tight passages. I squeezed into the crevice and shuffled along, only barely managing to keep my heart under control when the guiding rod that was tucked into my belt suddenly ran out. I panicked and flailed, before scraping my elbows and my knees trying to escape the spot I was in. When I finally made it through the passage and caught my breath again, I realized I had two more guiding rods, there was no reason to panic, I had freaked out for no reason. I chastised myself for succumbing to the panic again. The scraped elbows and knees weren''t of consequence and I pressed on with my second guiding rod leading me through the passages. The crowd of following things with their eyes were still following me, still keeping their distance even through my panic, a hollow reassurance. Shortly later I came to my least favorite passage that I had ever come across on this floor. Unlike the other spots that had me hesitate, this spot had me frozen. I don''t know how long I had been pacing and gathering all the nerve that I possibly could before I finally tied my pack to my waist and laid my body down in the dirt. This passage could only be crawled through. The first sight to grace me was a dozen eyes that watched as I started to push my way under. They kept watching even as I got closer and for a brief moment I thought I would have to actually fight them before they scattered just as I lifted my sword in their direction. Despite my persistent desire to fight them, not having to do it while on my belly while shuffling through this tiny hole was the only respite this floor had given me. Respite that would have pleased me more if not for the crushing fear of dying under this rock that was ever present as I crawled through at the fastest speed I could muster, which unfortunately, was not fast at all.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. When I made it through I couldn''t even rest as I had to rush to pull my pack out with me. This bag was our lifeline, the single most important thing any of us carried. Right now it was bursting at the seams with the treasures I had harvested from all those monsters, losing that now would be disastrous. I was only able to relax once the bag was safely on my back once again. I panted and felt lightheaded and only realized when I had started to feel wobbly that I needed to slow my breaths again. I was panicking again. I was in such a constant state of stress that it was difficult to keep my head on straight. I don''t want to be alone anymore. If the others were here I would be okay. I still wouldn''t enjoy this, but I would be okay. My friends need me, I need to protect them. Their presence would keep me focused. I don''t want to die all alone. I shook my head the moment the thought went through my mind. That was a bad direction for them to travel. It would waste time. Time I didn''t have. This was a better line of thinking, it kept me focused, kept me motivated. Pushed me to action. Following the sparks of the glowing rod once again I pressed forward. I felt numb. The panic, the fear, it was overwhelming me. I could only press forward, focus on getting back to my friends. They were waiting for me. They needed me. I don''t want to be alone anymore. I must be getting close. I feel like I''ve been walking through this nightmare forever. Cheers rang out from above me again. They were enjoying themselves above me while I was locked away down here. No, they''re not real. I''m alone. No, I''m not alone, my friends are waiting for me. I need to get to them, I need to protect them. They need me. My heart sank when I turned the next corner and watched as the sparks fell down to the floor again. Two of these passages in one trip through? I grit my teeth. I blinked away the tears in my eyes as I fell to my knees once again. There''s no time. I need to get through here. I''m going to lose my mind. I can''t panic, I have to keep going, I have to make it through here. They''ll be waiting for me, they''ll be okay. I''ll be okay. I tied the sturdy rope around my waist once again. I normally hated the restrictive feeling of rope on my body but right now it was comforting compared to the passages I was forced to crawl through. I began to shimmy forward once again, crawling toward those eyes that watched me this entire floor. I was holding my sword so tightly in my hand that it was starting to hurt, but I would be ready for them. They''re waiting for me to lower my guard so they can attack me when I''m not ready. I felt a tug on my rope and my eyes flew wide open. I pulled the rope so hard that my pack flew into my side and I flailed my legs at anything that could be attached to it. I screamed and flailed around wildly like a demented horse. When I came back to my senses I realized that there was nothing attacking me, my pack was still here. But I was still stuck under this rock. The mental picture of the rock falling on me suddenly pushed me to keep crawling forward again, finally I was free of this tiny prison and back into a merely small one. Peeking into my pack I confirmed that everything was still in there and there were no tears in it. It was a little dirty but I had dragged it through two holes now, not to mention all of the other crevices I''ve squeezed through so far. I caught my breath and began moving forward again. I was eyeing the guiding rod now, it feels like it''s been a long time, but time always escapes me in this place. I was sure the guiding rod would die soon and I would be on my last. Before the dread of being on my last guiding rod could manifest, I finally came to the door of the safe room. My hand shook as I grabbed the handle and pushed the door open. I sighed in relief when two of my friends were already here, I wouldn''t have to wait for them alone. "You look as shaken up as ever coming through there. Did anyone stay together?" Piper asked me as she stroked Aria''s hair. The feline beastkin was lying on her side asleep. Her eyes were red and puffy, it was obvious she had been crying. I licked my dry lips and shook my head. "No. Luna and I were the last ones together... What happened to her? Didn''t she say this floor wasn''t any trouble for her?" My sister frowned and looked down at her. "She said that the floor changed for her. Visions of her friends kept saying she killed or abandoned them, and she was forced to kill the monsters that looked like them before she could make it here." I slumped against the wall next to her and Piper took my shaky hand in hers. I relaxed for the first time since I had come to the floor and felt her soothing magic repair all of the scrapes and scratches I had inflicted on myself. "You can sleep for a while. I''ll keep watch for the others," Piper told me. I closed my eyes. "Thank you..." I barely managed to say back to her without letting my voice crack. Chapter 65

<~> Chapter 65 - Helena I continued to walk through the empty hallways for a while and so far I haven''t seen anything yet. It was odd, I had been told that this floor definitely had monsters even though they weren''t very powerful. Instead, I was walking alone down these creepy halls. I started opening all of the doors and peeking inside as I passed by, all of the rooms were empty and the hallways had formed a maze not too dissimilar from the other ones in this dungeon. The only difference is that all of the hallways have windows looking out into the city I came from. One of the steel door handles suddenly reflected some light and I spun just in time to see a dog pounce at me. I swiped at it with my free hand and the monster exploded into a cloud of smoke when my claws tore through it. I jumped backward and dropped my axe so that I could have both of my clawed hands free for the next attack... but none came. Eventually, the smoke cleared and there was nothing left, just me, alone again in the empty hallway. I looked around, unsure where it had come from at first before spotting one of the doors I had passed by was cracked open. I picked up my axe and cautiously walked inside but there was nothing there. I scanned the room and froze when I saw the blackboard. "HELENA MILLER IS A FATASS!!!" was scrawled across the giant blackboard. Crude drawings of me that I remembered from my time in high school were drawn around the words in chalk. I forced myself to look away from it and grit my teeth. I wasn''t even that fat in high school, the girls were just picking on me. The event this was related to was a time I had been bullied in class, it was so embarrassing that my mom let me skip school for a week. The school waived my attendance but decided the best course of action was to collectively punish everyone in that class which only made everyone dislike me even more... The whole thing was a shit show. I shook my head and refocused on the situation. I didn''t see where that dog could have come from. The only reason I had seen it was because its eyes glowed and reflected against the metal door handle. It was like a small umber hound, more similar to a misty wolf in size. It wasn''t even sized properly to the environment, why would these enemies be in a place like this anyway? As I had that thought my surroundings shuddered in a way I frankly can''t explain. If I had to liken it to anything, it was like the walls turned to static for a moment but much more intense and disorienting. The place still looked like a school but now everything was more... warped. Like the shapes of the doors, desks, and lockers melted. I tied my axe under my shield with the sling I had made for it so that I could keep my hands free. If I was fighting more of those wolves it would be easier to fight them with my claws. When I stepped back into the hallway things looked... weird. Oddly the first thing I noticed was that the flooring had changed. Rather than the tiled floor I was used to seeing at school, it now looked like a larger uniform style of flooring with random school tiles melted in. Outside, the false scene through the windows changed as well. Now it looked like the entire school was on top of a mountain with other buildings randomly in dips and valleys off in the distance. The vague skyline that I was used to seeing looked like it was mixed with my memories of when I was being chased by the umber hound creating a new scene that made no sense. The world rumbled and shook as the walls once again shuddered. I reached out and steadied myself with the wall and struggled to stay standing while everything rocked around me. When it finally stopped it didn''t look like anything had changed from what I could see here, the only difference was that I suddenly could smell a strong scent of lemon cleaner. It was as if someone had dumped a highly condensed bottle of the stuff all over the floor. I had no idea what was happening or why. This place wasn''t nearly as difficult as everyone had made it out to be, but everything was just so... weird. I started moving again. I should probably make more of an effort to get through this place faster. I could light one of the guiding rods but my whiskers had been pointing me in the right direction before... I better not risk it. If I light one I can at least confirm if my whiskers are sending me generally in the right direction. I paused to look around before carefully unwrapping one of the guiding rods and taking it into my hand. The moment it made contact with the rod it sparked to life and started pointing me down the hallway. As I followed the path of sparks down the hall I came to the first junction that I had come across since the last time everything shuddered. At the T-intersection, there was a long rounded desk that looked really familiar, but I couldn''t place it right away. I looked around for any monsters before walking behind the desk and examining everything. One of the papers on top of the desk caught my attention immediately. I picked it up and took a closer look, the writing was still gibberish but on the top of the letterhead was the logo of the hospital my dad died in. My heart sank at the implication. I scanned my surroundings with more interest than I had before and now that I knew what I was looking for, I could recognize some of the things around me better. It was as if someone merged my high school with this hospital. I dropped the paper and tried to shove down some of the anxiety that was threatening to rise in my chest. I could handle the dungeon throwing my unfortunate high school memories at me but this... this was just mean.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. When I walked around the desk two more mini umber wolves leapt out at me from nowhere but since my hands were free this time I was able to cleave through them in a split second. These two also erupted into smoke and filled the entirety of the hallway. The thick lemon scent in the air overrode anything else I was smelling, even the smoke didn''t register over it, leaving me blind and unable to smell anything else. I took some distance and backed up to a wall while I let the air clear. Eventually the smoke faded and the enemies were gone again. I turned in the direction the sparks were flowing and noted that my whiskers agreed on the direction to go. I hoped this meant that I wouldn''t need to waste any more of the guiding rods. I followed the path further down the hallway. Now that I was looking for it, it was obvious that this place was partially a hospital. I say partially, because I could still see classrooms and lockers mixed in with the gurneys and random medical machinery lying around. None of the machines seemed to be on weirdly enough and now that I''m thinking about it, the lights aren''t on in here either, making the hospital seem abandoned. I hadn''t even noticed at first because the ''school'' that I was walking through was already dark. After I turned the next corner four shadowy wolves darted out at me. They lasted only half a second longer than the previous group had but the pattern that was starting to emerge was already worrying. All I could do though was shake my head and keep moving forward. After following two more turns and walking for a bit longer I stopped. For the first time since I lit it, the guiding rod was telling me to go in a different direction than my whiskers. Its sparks were leading to a door that looked like it belonged to the hospital and my whiskers suggested I should continue down the hallway. Feeling a bit tense I rested my hand on the door handle. My whiskers seemed to be pretty accurate so far but the guiding rod was known to be reliable. This unfortunately meant that I would have to walk through this door after I had started to completely ignore the weird mixture of doctors'' offices and classrooms in this giant place that made no sense. I licked my lips in anticipation before throwing open the door. Immediately eight shadowy wolves surrounded me and I began to tear through them. They were still not difficult but I really really didn''t like where this was going now that I had caught on to the pattern. The one and a half seconds of the previous fight had now turned into twenty seconds of fighting. It wasn''t long, but because I had to work harder at not getting surrounded and flanked, it was difficult to kill them as quickly. It was also substantially longer than the previous four and that didn''t bode well for when the next group of sixteen, if I was right, caught up with me. I walked through the room, it looked like another doctor''s office but it had an odd door that looked like the kind of swinging doors you would see in a kitchen. I pushed through one and on the other side was... a mixture of a basketball court and a soccer field? The floor was the shiny reflective surface of an indoor gym with tape on the ground marking the zone lines of a basketball court but instead of basketball nets, it had gigantic and partially melted soccer goal frames. There were also immense bleachers on either side of the court but behind the bleachers, where no one would be able to look through them properly, were those windows that had been everywhere so far. This place made so little sense it was unnerving. The sparks were still flowing forward through the... soccer slash basketball court so I started to walk through the place. I looked around expecting another group of wolves to jump out at any moment but nothing ever did and I made it to the other side. I took one more glance behind me at the odd sight before opening the door and going through it. The sparks started moving in the opposite direction I was headed on the other side of the door and now my whiskers agreed with me, making me think that the guiding rod had essentially taken me through a shortcut. I continued to follow the sparks again for a while before I noticed that some of the hospital machinery was starting to flicker like it was getting partial power. As I kept walking the number of things that were glowing started to grow. Now quiet beeps, hissing noises, and pumps were making sounds as I kept going. As more things were dimly lit and made noises, the hospital began to look dingier and less clean, yet the overpowering scent of lemon cleaner still remained. Ahead of me in the hallway, there were two open doors. Or rather, the doors were off the hinges and there were two open gaps ahead of me. I wasn''t sure of what I would find this time, would I be attacked by wolves again or would the doors just be empty rooms, not a threat like the gym I had walked through? My heart rate picked up as I walked forward and the moment I peeked around one of the corners, two groups of the small umber hounds bolted at me through the doors. I slashed my way through them. Each individual didn''t take much effort to kill, but I was forced to fight the large group in the smoke with only my sense of hearing to guide me. It wasn''t a clean fight this time, there were too many of them to properly guard myself but their teeth and claws were nothing compared to the many things I had fought thus far. Soon all sixteen of them were dead and the minor scratches and bruises were fading from my body. While it wasn''t becoming unmanageable yet, I didn''t look forward to the numbers doubling a few more times. The walls and floors started to look more and more dilapidated as I continued to make my way through this faux hospital. The odd blend of school and hospital was now getting worse, some of the hospital machinery was now hanging out of the giant lockers, the doors were melted or missing entirely and there was dirt and grime everywhere with black mold growing all over the ceiling. The hospital machinery was becoming more distracting too, now all I could hear from every direction were heart rate monitors going faster and faster despite being connected to no one. I was only glad the noise wasn''t quite as all-encompassing as the clockwork sounds had been yet. I grimaced as I continued down the halls of this strange place. Chapter 66

<~> Chapter 66 - Helena I followed the sparks of the guiding rod through the doors of an operating theatre, the ceiling was lit with stars like a planetarium. I only had a few fleeting moments to look at the shining dots before wolves started pouring over the railing surrounding the room and running at me with their bright white eyes. Thirty-two of them were running at me if the same pattern still held. I had intended to run back to the door I had come from and fight them one by one, but the door had turned into a solid wall without me noticing. I growled and turned back to the crowd. I was happy to have a wall at my back if nothing else. Long minutes passed by as I fought what started to feel like an endless horde. I was blinded, I couldn''t smell anything but lemon cleaner, and now even my hearing was impeded by the constant noises of machinery and the out-of-sync beeping of heart rate monitors and air pumps. One by one by one I killed the horde of them. By the end, I was battered and bruised up, with shallow cuts and tears all over my body. My stomach growled now too after my regeneration cleared away all of the damage I had taken. I would have to start carrying monster meat with me, or maybe find something to substitute it with when it was too inconvenient to eat in the future. I looked down at the dead guiding rod in my hand. It didn''t seem worth lighting another one. I was pretty sure it was just leading me to shortcuts and having to fight an ever-growing horde of wolves every time hardly felt worth it. I decided against it and walked through the strange room I had found myself in. I stared up at the stars painted on the ceiling. They looked completely random with constellation marks linking seemingly disparate stars together. Either this was yet another thing that was gibberish or these were constellations from this world, not mine. That seemed unlikely since this place was supposed to be taken from my memories. The moment I opened the next door I could already see the horde of wolves running at me from down the hallway. There were so many spilling around the corner that the throng looked endless. Their count would be sixty-four by now if they were indeed doubling still. I wasn''t going to wait around to count them, my whiskers were telling me to run the opposite way. My heart thumped in my chest as I darted through the hallways. As I ran, the heart rate monitors were beeping like crazy. If these had been connected to real people, they would all be having panic attacks right now. The walls were now crumbling and falling apart revealing more and more of the mountain I had first been hunted by the umber wolf on. I glanced behind me, I was still ahead of the giant flood of wolves but they were keeping up. They looked like an endless stream, stretching so far back that I wasn''t sure sixty-four was accurate anymore. I wouldn''t be surprised if another one-hundred twenty-eight had joined them, they looked unending. The legs that I had bemoaned receiving were the only reason why I was able to maintain this endless sprint and stay ahead of them. The walls fell away until I was running along sheer cliffs instead of hallways. Rather than walls, there were just drops into the abyss instead. The airflow was still pointing me in the right direction but it wasn''t necessary anymore, there was only one path forward. The only saving grace of all this was that in the brief moments, I felt safe enough to peer behind me, I could see many of the wolves falling down the holes on either side of us as they fought each other to catch up with me. Randomly sprinkled around the cliffs and rocks were more of those annoying heart rate monitors now going so fast the cacophony was giving me a headache. It was jarring when all of them suddenly flatlined. I skidded to a stop, nearly tripping over myself in my momentum when I reached a large circular plateau. In the center of it was a... man. The... man stood up and looked at me with the piercing white eyes of an umber hound. He was recognizable immediately and was wearing the same thing the last time I had ever seen him. The ripped and faded hospital gown fluttered in the wind as the image of my dead father stood there silently. I tore my eyes away from... it and looked behind me, the huge horde of wolves was still chasing, they would catch up in less than a minute. When I turned back to the thing in front of me, its body was deforming, growing larger, bastardizing my father''s image. I untied my axe and pulled my shield back to my shoulder. It would be more annoying to fight all the little ones like this, but I would need my weapons to fight the threat in front of me. The thing that took the form of my dad was turning into an umber hound. Just as large as the one I had run from up here on this mountain trail before. I''LL KILL THIS THING DESECRATING HIS MEMORY. With an uncontained roar of rage, I leapt at the monster ahead of me. I had expected my axe to sweep through the thing like smoke but instead, it bit deep into flesh. A spray of dark blood splashed across my front and it retaliated at the same time. I deflected one of its sharp claws but the other one cut deep into the side of my torso. I had gotten used to pain while fighting and only winced as I leaned into it and took another swing. This time my axe got caught in bone and its arm was twisted at a weird angle. The false umber hound was so much larger than me but it was weak compared to the form it stole! I lifted my leg and kicked the doppelganger away with all of my strength. My axe tore itself out of the thing''s shoulder and launched the monster away from me. Not letting the opening go to waste, I pounced forward and pinned it to the ground with my axe. I CAN SMELL IT! I sunk my teeth and claws into its chest and ripped it open. The monster was still struggling, kicking and gnashing and clawing at me as I swallowed bite after bite of its meat. The taste was rich and flavorful, the strongest flavor I had eaten since the minotaur. This thing must be another boss. I could feel its weak teeth and claws gnawing at me but I ignored its weak flailing as I ate him alive, hunting for my prey. Soon the giant horde of wolves swarmed me and I just ignored them too as I continued to eat. The boss''s mana rich meat easily gave me more than enough energy to regenerate through anything these wolves or this pathetic boss could throw at me. They all struggled to drag me off of the monster as I just tore it apart and continued to eat it from the inside out. I FOUND IT My teeth bit into the heart and my eyes fluttered in ecstasy as I felt a rush of power tear through my body like a sledgehammer. I was completely stunned by the rush of power and pleasure that coursed through my body, even as the mass of wolves continued to try and rip me to shreds. The magic formed a large knot of energy in my core. It felt bigger and subtly different than the other one I had picked up from the misty wolves. Much too caught up in the sensation I didn''t hesitate to grab the knot of mana and activate it. The threads unraveled and flooded my entire body with the magic that had collected there and I felt it asking for something else. My mind raced through my hazy memories and I reached for the first thing that came to mind, my favorite flavor.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I felt a ripple go through my entire body as I felt something change. My body felt strange, wet, cold. My smoky fur faded away, retreating into my skin as it took on a different texture. Slime coated my body and I felt something wet fill my mouth like drool. My sense of smell changed completely and my eyesight shifted as well, yet I could still see the glowing brightness now reflecting off of my skin. I gathered all of the mucus in my mouth and sprayed it at the crowd of monsters still trying to slash at my more sensitive skin. The ones nearest to me froze instantly and shattered. The ones behind them tried to run past the shards of ice and only got caught in my icy breath faster. I spun and whipped my tail while claiming my territory with my ice. I spread my mucus on the ground and watched the wolves slip and fall in it, losing limbs, tails, or even their heads when they met the ice magic filled slime. Eventually, the crowd of wolves were all reduced to shards of ice as I stood atop the corpse of the monster that DARED to steal my dad''s face. A headache was coming on so I released the knot of power I was gripping tightly inside of me. Like a spring, the mana coiled back in on itself depleted but not entirely empty. I managed to revert the magic before it put too much stress on my body. Now in my wolf form again I tore into the meat under me to refill my expended mana. The magic rich meat tasted amazing after exerting myself so much. The scratches, aches, and bruises faded away as I ate my fill. When I finally stood up and looked down at the thing I had eaten, it was nothing but a black blob. It didn''t look anything like my dad or the umber wolf anymore. The night around me flashed to bright white and I had to cover my eyes as they adjusted to the sudden change. I was in a circular boss room now, the walls the same sterile white they had been when I first entered this place. My whiskers twitched and I looked over at the door on the far wall. It looks like I can finally get out of here. I shifted back to my human form and retrieved my axe. I was tired now. This fight had taken a lot out of me. My instincts were in a constant war with my conscious mind and it left me exhausted and wrung out. I had gotten quite the amazing ability but I wasn''t ready to think about the implications of it yet. I just hoped my friends wouldn''t mind waiting for me to recover. I dragged myself to the door and leaned heavily on it before opening it and dragging myself through. I slowly traveled down a few more long corridors of the plain white walls while following the airflow on my whiskers again. Eventually, I found a door that looked similar to the one we entered this floor through, it was the safe room on this side. I took a breath before pushing the door open, hoping for the best. Most of my friends were here, looking just as exhausted as I was. Maxwell and Aria were asleep, the only one awake was Piper. I closed the door behind me and plopped myself against the wall on the other side of Maxwell. "Luna isn''t here yet?" I asked. "No, Maxwell said that the two of them were the last ones to get separated," Piper replied. I nodded and slumped down a little, on the verge of passing out already. "Was this floor as shitty for you as it was for me?" "...yes," was all she replied back. I turned to her with a hint of worry. "Do... you want to talk about it?" I asked. "No... This trial is tough on everyone. It can take a toll on you. But no, I would rather not think about it at all." I grimaced. "The fucking dungeon made me kill a monster that looked like my dad." Piper was quiet for a few moments before she replied. "Was it hard to kill him? Er, ...." I didn''t understand the last word she used but I just shook my head. "It didn''t make the monster harder to kill... it just made me angry. The last time I saw my dad he was in the... uh, at the healers. He died of a... brain... explosion... no, brain bleed?" I had no idea how to even begin to explain a stroke or an aneurysm to her. I considered using the rings but she looked tired, I didn''t want to use her mana up if she was tapped out. "What did the floor look like to you?" she asked. I laughed. "I don''t think I can explain it without the rings. Too many words I just don''t know. It was weird though, made no sense." Piper nodded. "Better wait to explain it later then." "Yeah," I replied with a sigh. Piper looked over and studied me somberly. "If you need to rest you can. You look tired and I''m already planning on staying up while waiting for Luna. I can never sleep after this floor until I see her- er, everyone safe again..." I looked up at the plain ceiling. "Will you wake me when Luna gets back? I want to wait up for her... but I think I''m going to pass out whether I like it or not." "Sure. Get some rest. I''ll wake you when she gets back," Piper promised. I smiled and slid all the way down to my back. "Thanks Piper. I''ll do that." I closed my eyes and was asleep in seconds. Chapter 67

<~> Chapter 67 - Luna When the dungeon around me lit up again, the plain grey-white walls had turned to a familiar open field in the middle of a snowstorm. The only thing that kept me on the same path were the wooden fences that I knew from past experience with this place couldn''t be crossed. Dammit. This place was familiar. It was the same snowstorm I had experienced every time I came through this floor alone and the same one that often haunted my dreams. Not lately though. I smiled at the brief respite in my heart as an image of Helena came to mind. I rubbed my thumb along the ring on my index finger, a common tick I had picked up soon after I started wearing it. I flared my magical aura and coalesced a ring of fire two arm spans around me. The task came easier to me since I had begun to wear this new sash, it makes continuous spells like this easier to maintain. That helps considering I rarely needed to use this spell, my allies, even before Helena joined, do far more to keep the enemies away from me than this barrier does, but it would do fine for now. I rolled my shoulders and trudged through the snow as the fire barrier warmed me. Without stopping I slung my pack off one shoulder and dug out one of the guiding rods. I hoped that this wouldn''t be a long floor this time, but my version of this floor had a tendency to last longer than most of the others and I was the last to be separated. The sparks came to life and started to drift along one of the forks ahead. I moved forward and continued to stumble through the snow. Eventually, I came to the place that always filled me with anxiety when I looked upon it. My father''s manor. Or, a twisted dungeon''s interpretation of it. I readied two balls of fire behind me as I pushed the double doors open. Like every time I had come to this floor, the shades were waiting to ambush me here as soon as I stepped inside. Two faceless maids clashed against my fire barrier and were held back long enough for the spells I had readied to crash into them. "Your father wants to see you in his study." One of the maids calmly said even as she stumbled backward and fell onto the floor in a burning pile. "Go take a bath! You''ve dirtied your clothes again playing with those urchins!" The second one said with a bit more spirit, even though its tone was completely mismatched with its reaction as it also fell to the floor in a heap. I closed the doors behind me and sealed out a lot of the cold, then I took a moment to look down at the two faceless maids lying in a pile of char. These monsters hadn''t been a challenge in a long time but part of me always felt guilty every time I fought them. This place was trying to make me hate my childhood even more than I already did. I didn''t like most of the maids my father had hired to raise me but I hadn''t wanted to kill them. After coming through here so many times though, my predominant emotion as I was forced to navigate this place, was apathy. The most the dungeon was able to do to me anymore was annoy me by picking at my sad past. A sad past that I had been forced to confront many times over before I had even come to this floor. What else was I supposed to think about when entire days would go by without any conversation? I looked away from the piles of ash I had left by the door and continued down the hall after the glowing sparks of the guiding rod. The first time I had come here I had wanted to burn the entire place down. I quickly learned that this place was fireproof, the rugs, tapestries, and paintings just wouldn''t catch. The part of me that would have gained great catharsis by burning down my childhood home again was left unfulfilled. Three more maids charged at me from one of the rooms I passed and once again slammed into my barrier of fire. I charged a fire circle under them as they impotently wailed on my barrier until it had collected enough to torch the three of them all at once. An efficient use of mana for enemies too weak to crack the barrier I had erected for myself. The three shadow maids were instantly vaporized, not even having the time to barb me with one of their taunts that irked me so much as a child. None of it was that bad growing up but this place was slowly eroding any attachment I did have to the maids that had raised me. I shook my head and continued on. I had been through here enough times now that I knew none of these rooms were worth looking through. The most I would find in them reminders that I did not want to look at. The guiding rod led me into one of the rooms that was made to look like a ballroom. Music was playing as if there was a grand party going on but the room was empty. Walking through rooms like this always made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, but larger elite monsters never came for me here. It was just more meaningless tension that had faded away after a few times of walking through this place. Why did the dungeon try to get under our skin like this? What meaning did it serve? Even when the monsters of this floor are manageable for hunters to kill, many of them still refuse to travel this floor because of the hardship it brings so many people. Why would the dungeon even want that? Does the dungeon want a majority of hunters to languish on the first five floors? Everything I had heard about dungeons up until now suggested the opposite, they wanted to lure people in deeper. So why would it create a floor that proved so insurmountable to so many people? I didn''t understand. "Your father is very cross with you tonight young lady! Go to his study immediately!" "You dirtied another dress! You never act like a proper lady, go and change this instant!" "Why would the lord even keep a beastkin child?"Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I frowned as another of the faceless maids fell to cinders. That last one had hurt. I shook my head. It''s not like my father ever wanted me anyway, if it hadn''t been for the mother I had never known, I''m sure I would have been left on the doorstep of a temple. "You''re turning into a harlot, just like your mother." I just sighed as I dispatched another of them. Who knows if my mother was a harlot? Certainly not me. The only one who might have known that was my father, and he''s dead now. My fingers absently trailed along the scars on my throat as they often did without me realizing it, whenever I thought of him or my childhood. The only thing I knew about my mother was that she must have been wealthy enough to convince my money-obsessed prick of a father to take care of me. He certainly didn''t keep me around as long as he did because he loved me or saw any benefit to raising me. Why had I lived with him in the first place? My father had never loved me as far as I knew. The sparks finally settled on the familiar door of father''s study. The first time I had come here I had nearly been in tears. Seeing this door again had made me anxious and fearful. Now it just made me feel... empty and hollowed out. In some ways coming through this place had helped me, in others, it just continued to tear away at me bit by bit. I pulled the study door open and stepped inside the boss arena. A giant and larger-than-life image of my human father rose above me next to his gigantic desk. The image I had of him made me feel small and inferior, even if by the end he hadn''t even been that much taller than me. This version of him reflected the former. A manifestation of my memories of him, of a man that I had once wanted love from, but learned to hate instead. If the scars on my throat were any indication, the feeling had been mutual. "She left me because of you!" His booming voice declared. The giant man dashed forward at me and slashed with his sword. My fire shield cracked as it caught his blade but I didn''t even bother to try and dodge it. This monster was too fast for me to dodge. Through trial and error, I learned that the easiest way to deal with this boss was just to reinforce the shield with more mana between each strike. Normally it would be too costly a maneuver to employ, but I knew my bolts of fire would tear through him quickly enough that it wouldn''t matter. I wasn''t even entirely sure why the monster took the form of my father in the first place. It hadn''t even been me that killed him that night, I always found it odd that I would have to do it in this nightmare. Maxwell was the one who had dragged me back to the manor in a rage and decapitated my father after Piper had finished healing me. Once he was dead I knew someone might come looking for us so I burned the entire manor down to the ground. We had to leave town but I hated that place anyway. I was so emotionally raw that night I hadn''t even considered the maids who were still in the building. Thankfully, I later learned that no one else had died in the blaze I had started that night. I didn''t like the maids, but I hadn''t wanted to kill them. The first time I had been through here I had felt triumphant when I killed the shade of my father. It had been cathartic to kill a monster in his image with my own magic. By the fifth time, I had felt exhausted by it, by the tenth I just felt empty. After I kill him the last stretch of this floor will be on fire, a reminder of the aftermath of that night. After going through this a few times, walking through the burning manor, even that began to feel hollow. I have seen this manor burn down time after time coming through here, and now it just felt like... a waste. It had been childish to burn everything down in a fit of rage. It was hard to blame myself though, I had been nearly murdered by my own father that night. I''m not sure if burning everything down helped cover our tracks or not, but either way we had to leave and flee to Ironcastle. A scream echoed through the study as one of my firebolts splashed against his giant torso, quicker than I could react he flailed his sword at me and cracked my barrier once again. I expended the mana to reinforce my protective shell and began to charge another fire bolt. But before I could finish the shade off, something strange happened. The world lurched and with a sudden snap, the manor walls that had surrounded me turned back to the grey-white walls of the floor when you weren''t alone. The giant shade I had been fighting moments ago fell over and evaporated into nothing... and then it was quiet. Something was wrong. I looked around. The room I was in was large, much larger than the featureless hallways that you were forced to navigate normally on this floor. This room was the same dimensions as the giant study I had just been in but I''ve never seen a room this large when the walls were still plain. After some time had passed I reluctantly let down my guard. I still kept up my barrier but I released the other magic I had been charging in case of an attack. This room was eerie now that all the sound of the snowstorm had suddenly vanished. I followed the sparks of the guiding rod through one of the two doors that had been in this room. When it looked like father''s study it had only had one door... I felt as if I was being taught the secret to a street performer''s trick... I walked through the empty halls for a while. Despite the distance I traveled, I never came across another shade or another illusion on this floor. Everything was just... empty and bare. I didn''t know what to make of that. I didn''t know if this was something good or something bad. I had been through this floor many times and this was the first time anything even remotely like this had ever happened. The only thing I could think of, the only thing that felt different this time, was Helena. Had she done something to this place? Did the same thing that brought her to the dungeon do something here too? It felt silly to blame any peculiar happenings on the strange transforming wolf-woman but what else could explain such a sudden change? Eventually, I made it to the exit and cautiously opened the door. Piper smiled at me warmly as she always did when we met back up after being separated on this floor. I smiled back at her, happy to be with my friends again. I was the last one to arrive, Piper looked exhausted and everyone else was sleeping. But as much as everyone probably needed the sleep, I didn''t feel comfortable sleeping here just yet, after the floor had changed. ("Piper, we need to talk. Something happened to the last floor,") I told her. "What do you mean?" she asked. Chapter 68

<~> Chapter 68 - Helena I was still tired when I woke up but the first thing to hit me was the worry that Luna hadn''t come back yet. I jerked up and looked around only to find Luna sitting next to me smiling. ("Are you okay, Helena?") she asked. I rubbed the gunk out of my eyes and took a deep breath. "I was worried about you. You weren''t here when I got back. Piper said she would wake me..." I looked over at Piper who had rolled over fast asleep now. ("I was the last to arrive but Piper was much more fatigued by her trip through this floor than I was... She told me that you wanted her to wake you but I thought it was better to let both of you sleep. But that''s not important right now. Helena, we need to talk about the last floor. Did anything strange happen near the end?") I looked down at my lap and felt my chest tighten up at the question. "I fought a monster that looked like my dad... And, Oh! After I ate it, I transformed into a frost salamander!" Luna frowned at my response, her usual interest in my shifting wasn''t there at all. ("You ate it? And then what happened?") she urged seriously. I stared at her for a moment, a little confused by her behavior. "Nothing. After I killed the remaining monsters I walked through a few more corridors and ended up here." ("Did the floor change for you? After you killed it?") she asked. "It did... after I ate it the walls suddenly turned white again and almost blinded me when the lights came back on. I was exhausted after the fight though, I didn''t notice anything else. Why? Did something happen?" Luna scratched her ear and looked off to the side in thought for a moment before replying, ("The floor changed. I was in the middle of fighting something when it suddenly died and the walls turned white for me too. That isn''t what normally happens, at least for me. After I fight that monster, I''m forced to walk through a burning building. This time, the monster I was fighting fell over and I had to navigate through the white-walled maze instead.") "Do you... think I broke the dungeon floor?" Luna''s eyes went wide and she suddenly looked around as if spooked by my words. When nothing happened she focused back on me. ("Careful! Don''t talk like that, the dungeon might take offense!") I switched to talking with the rings. ("Seriously though, did I do something wrong? Should I not have eaten that thing?") Luna pursed her lips. ("Most people have to kill things on that floor... I don''t think it''s because you killed the monster, I think it''s because you ate its heart. Maybe you did something more significant to it than we realized.") ("Should I try not to do that anymore? I don''t know if I could stop myself...") ("No,") Luna replied while shaking her head. ("Even if you could stop yourself, I don''t think it would be wise for you to neglect such a strong source of improvement. I''m just thinking that... maybe you killed whatever made the lost halls so horrible for good. We''ll have to investigate a little once everyone wakes up, see if you permanently killed it. This could really be a huge deal.") ("Did I do something bad without knowing it?") Luna scrunched her eyebrows. ("...Yes and no. The lost halls have always been a huge roadblock for the city. Few people are willing to go through that floor more than once, and many are not even willing to give that floor a try at all. It''s one of the more deadly floors of this dungeon despite its relatively low difficulty because it uses your bad memories against you like a weapon. Many people aren''t willing to go through that, they know whatever they''re haunted by will paralyze them too much for the risk to be worth it,") ("So if this roadblock is gone...") ("Yes, the groups of adventurers crowded on the first five floors suddenly won''t have to worry about the treacherous lost halls and burning expensive guiding rods to get through as quickly as possible. The city will suddenly get more access to better materials... but the prices of those materials on the market will eventually decrease and make this city less profitable for us. We will have a little bit of time before that happens, but it might not be worth staying in Fallow anymore. We''ll have to ask Maxwell about this...") Luna explained. ("So, you need to investigate to make sure that it''s worth staying in this town?") I asked. Luna shrugged. ("Partially. Turning in valuable information like this also pays well. Especially something like this. They''ll need to send people to investigate, but we''ll get paid if they can confirm it.") ("So either way, it''s worth checking out,") I said. Luna nodded. ("Yes.") I sighed and scratched the back of my head. ("What do we do if the floor stays like this? Are you going to go back to Ironcastle?") Luna frowned and looked down at the floor. ("We may have to... You''ll come with us, right?") I turned to face her fully and balked at the implication. ("What? Of course I will. I don''t have any connection to this place other than you guys. If you need to go back to Ironcastle then I''m going too. This place is a prison, why would I want to stay here?") Luna chuckled before leaning against me. ("Good... I just wanted to make sure.") "Will it take long to reach the surface?" I asked out loud. ("No, the first five floors of the dungeon are smaller than most of the ones we''ve gone through and they''re crawling with other people. There''s a decent chance we won''t run into any monsters at all on the way up. It''ll take a day at most to make it back to the top from here.") Luna yawned and slumped against me a bit more. She''s the only one who hasn''t slept since finishing this floor. "Get some rest, Luna. I''ll keep watch for you," I told her while rubbing her shoulder. She looked up at me with a sleepy smile. ("That sounds like a good plan. Stay in your human form, people may come through here while we''re resting. Only wake us if they seem like they want to pick a fight. Wake me up when the others get up, I can stand a little less sleep for the floors ahead.") "Okay. Get some sleep," I said as she got comfortable with her head on my lap.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. *** Several hours later Maxwell woke up with a start and looked around in confusion. His sudden jump woke up Piper up as well. She put a hand on his shoulder and he calmed down before he stood up and started going through his bag. "Are you awake?" Piper asked me quietly. I chuckled in reply. "I was wondering if the blindfold would make you think I was asleep." She looked down at Luna. "How long has she been asleep?" I don''t know the words for how they keep time, don''t know if they even have them. "A while, probably long enough to continue. She said the remaining floors shouldn''t be an issue. I don''t want to wake her unless we''re getting ready to leave though." Piper frowned and looked over at the door back into the maze we had come through. "One of us will have to check out the previous floor though... I assume Luna explained what happened. How many guiding rods do you have left?" "She did, yeah. I have two left. I didn''t use a second one after confirming the first was close enough to my whiskers," I replied. "Did the two of you figure out what might have caused it?" she asked. "I ate something''s heart and then the walls turned white for me too. Luna thinks I might have killed... the monster that makes the floor like that for good," I said struggling with my words. Piper frowned and looked over at Aria. "Aria can''t be the one to check. The floor changed for her and it was much worse this time, she needs time to recover. She wouldn''t be able to handle it again so soon." She looked over at Maxwell and lowered her voice. "Can''t be Maxwell... just trust me." "I could go..." I suggested. Piper thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "No, things are too confusing around you as it is. For all we know it''ll just be weird for you, it has to be one of us to check... If the floor is broken then it might not teleport us at all and it''ll take only a little while to check. If whatever happened is temporary then whoever checks will get lost and have to find their way back with the guiding rods. It''ll have to be either me or Luna..." I looked down at the sleeping foxgirl resting her head on my lap. "Do you think she''ll handle it okay? My floor was quite... rough." "I think Luna has the easiest time with it actually..." "So you''re saying that the floor isn''t easy for you either?" I asked. She met my gaze and just stared at me for a moment. "No, it isn''t. I don''t want to talk about it." I sighed. "Fine. When are we planning on doing this?" "Doing what?" Maxwell suddenly asked after he finished whatever he was doing in his pack. Piper looked at him for a long moment. "Luna said that something happened to the last floor. She thinks Helena might have broken it." Maxwell''s eyebrows rose. "You''re sure?" "No, that''s why we need to confirm it," Piper replied. I scratched the back of my head. "Luna said that we might need to leave town, things might not be worth it for you anymore if the lost halls are easier for people to cross." "Leave Fallow?" Piper said with trepidation. I was able to pick up the name of the town now, I had only heard it through the rings up until now. Maxwell''s face scrunched up in thought. "Yes... the prices of things after the sixth floor will go down in .... Might depend on what it is though, things like crystal mining might be able to be made up for in more frequent trips." Price? Value? Not sure about the missing word this time. I was able to pick up the word for mining though. I think I''m nearly fluent now, I just need to increase my vocabulary. It''s become a lot easier to talk in this language, I''ve been using it exclusively for a few weeks now. Piper sighed and leaned against the wall. "The Ironcastle dungeon was even more annoying though." "I agree..." Maxwell said. Piper looked at the door again with a frown. "I should probably go. Give Luna some more time to rest. At least everyone will still be here when I get back if the dungeon is still normal." She turned to me. "Hand over those guiding rods. Three should be plenty." "I have one left too," Maxwell said as the two of us handed them over to her. Piper nodded. "Four should be more than enough. Hopefully, I won''t even need one... Or maybe hopefully not. I''m not sure if I''d prefer to leave Fallow for Ironcastle." She shrugged took a deep breath and walked through the door, quietly shutting it behind herself. Maxwell and I stared at the door silently for a while with only the sounds of Aria and Luna''s relaxed breathing. When I finally pried my eyes off the door I looked over at Aria. She was curled into a ball on the floor still. Piper hadn''t said much about it, but it seemed like the poor catgirl had it rough. The door to the rest of the dungeon floor opened back up and Piper walked through. "Yeah... there''s something wrong with the floor now. Even after walking for a while, the dungeon never moved me. There are no monsters and the floor didn''t change at all on the way back either. The floor seems entirely still now... I also feel like if the dungeon was upset about it, wouldn''t it have lashed out at us by now? If we did break the floor, the dungeon seems okay with it..." Maxwell sighed. "It''s been half a day while we slept, if it was going to go back to normal you would think it would have done so by now... Even if this means we have to leave Fallow for a more .... dungeon, it''s hard for me to feel anything but relief that I won''t have to go through that floor again." There was a quiet pause before Piper responded with her own sigh. "I agree." "Well, at least the .... for this .... should be good. I''m excited to see how much money we make from this trip," Maxwell said. "Wanna .... this will be our most .... trip ever?" Piper said with a smile. "Oh, it will be, no doubt about that. The better .... would be if it''ll beat the old .... by two times or three times." I was able to guess what they were talking about even if I didn''t recognize all the words they were using, but I wasn''t all that interested in making wagers with them either. I gently roused Luna awake. I was ready to get out of here. We''re so close to the end of the dungeon now. Chapter 69

<~> Chapter 69 Our weary group climbed the stairs to the fifth floor. We were so close to getting out of here, this should be our last day in the dungeon. Cross your fingers. I looked at the back of Aria''s head as we climbed. She had been kind of a wreck when she finally woke up but her words were too frantic and panicked for me to be able to understand easily. All I could really understand was that the floor had ended up being much harder for her than it had been in the past and that it had something to do with her missing party members. She had a bit of a haunted look on her now. Piper and Maxwell both seemed dreary when I woke up but they were slowly getting back to being themselves again. I could totally understand why people wouldn''t be able to navigate a floor like that. It attacked your insecurities and weaknesses and left you vulnerable to the monsters on that floor. Since the floor changed for everyone, there was no way of knowing how bad it would be for you unless you already experienced it before. Going through that floor would be risky unless you were confident that you were at peace with yourself. Or were desperate enough to go through it anyway... I have a feeling that''s what my friends had been their first time through here. I clearly still had some issues to unpack but the floor hadn''t been as bad for me as it seems like it had been for the others. Or maybe my altered instincts made me less vulnerable than I would have otherwise been. I''m not sure really. The illusions it showed me seemed confused like it didn''t know how to make sense of what it was seeing, making the entire place bizarre. I''m glad that even if we stay here and reenter the dungeon at some point I won''t have to go through that again. I''m not sure I could handle returning to this place again though. As wonderous as some of the floors had been, it also felt like a prison I couldn''t escape from. I''ve been in constant danger for weeks now, ever since I fell through that hole on the mountain... The first thing I noticed as we got close to the top of the stairs was the noise. There was so much... chattering. When we reached the top of the stairs there was a large expedition of people there with rows of tents near the stairway. It was a bit overwhelming with my improved hearing, I wasn''t used to this much background noise bouncing around the walls. This floor looked like another cave floor like the one I had first stepped foot in, except the walls were made of dark brown dirt rather than solid stone. The room we were in was really large, something like a hundred people were milling about, chatting, eating, or staring at us. "Hail." A human man called out as he approached us with his hands open, showing us the flat of his palms. Maxwell returned the gesture, opening his palms while walking ahead of us to speak with him. "Hail. We''re returning from a trip down below the lost halls." The man had blond hair and brown eyes and was wearing a well-worn breastplate over otherwise normal clothes. He looked over our group and paused as he stopped on me. I lowered my axe off of my shoulder and gently placed its head on the ground in an attempt to look less threatening. He raised an eyebrow at the gesture before focusing back on Maxwell. "Is there any news from down there? We''ve gotten a few odd reports from the dungeon lately. Stronger monsters in places they shouldn''t be and other odd things like that." Maxwell visibly hesitated which made the man''s eyes narrow. Maxwell looked around before focusing back on the man. "Are you the one in charge of this expedition?" The man glanced at us again before looking back at Maxwell and shaking his head. "No, I''m second in command. Do you have important news?" After a brief pause, Maxwell nodded. "Something you''d likely find out soon enough but would probably save you some trouble if our suspicions prove correct." "Information worth selling to the hunter''s association?" he asked. "Yes, I would prefer not to share it in the open," Maxwell replied. "Fine. All of you can follow me." He turned around and started to lead us through the camp. ("Is all of this normal?") I asked Luna through the rings. ("Well, there aren''t always expeditions preparing to go to the lower floors right when you come back but this kind of thing happens sometimes,") Luna replied. ("I meant this meeting we''re about to attend.") ("Oh... well no. But considering the state of the next floor it''s appropriate to tell them. If the floor is truly dead then these people wouldn''t need to spend as much time preparing. Now that it isn''t as much of a blockade they could set up a large camp even deeper, probably on the tenth floor.") ("Why are we bothering to tell them at all?") I asked. ("They''ll pay us.") She turned back and winked at me. I laughed which got me an odd look from the man escorting us. "Is your friend back there truly blind? She''s carrying an axe that looks larger than she is," the man whispered to Maxwell. "She''s not blind, she has a different kind of sight," Maxwell replied at full volume. The man shrugged. "I won''t .... any further then." We were led to a tent where they took Maxwell alone inside to speak with him. None of my friends looked perturbed by it so I didn''t say anything even if I felt a bit testy around all of these people. I''m not exactly misanthropic or anything but there were a lot of armed people I didn''t know walking around as we waited. I tried to listen into their conversation but once Maxwell dropped the information that the lost halls were broken and seemed to be a dead floor for the moment, I wasn''t able to follow the excited chattering anymore. When Maxwell finished up in the tent the same guy who led us there escorted us to the edge of their encampment. "So, was the detour worth it?" Piper asked. Maxwell nodded. "Twenty deers." "Deers?" I asked. Piper gestured to Luna who responded through the rings. ("Deers are a denomination of silver used in the hunter''s association. It goes copper rabbits, silver deers, silver pumas, silver bears, gold tigers, gold wyverns. There''s a story that the coinage used to be based on real animal pelts but that would have had to be a long time ago. A lot of places accept hunter coins, like Fallow and Ironcastle, but some places force you to change money at a banker. Not every place likes or trusts foreign coins, and some places even make it illegal for anyone but the country to mint coins, so you need to make sure you know the laws around coinage whenever you travel. I''ll ask Maxwell to show you the coins when we make it to the surface.")The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I nodded and continued to follow Maxwell. Walking through this stretch of dungeon was... surreal. I could hear noises coming from nearly every path that we crossed. There were groups of three to five people walking around talking in the language my friends used and even in a few languages I didn''t recognize. ("Luna, what language do you guys speak?") I asked. ("We speak Draconic,") she casually replied. I stopped in my tracks much to the confusion of the others. ("Draconic?! There are dragons?") Luna tilts her head. ("Of course there are? Draconic is a common language in this part of the world.") I pinch the bridge of my nose. ("We''re speaking the language of dragons? Are there a lot of dragons?") ("Uh, I''m not sure what you mean by a lot. There are fewer dragons than most of the smallfolk but there are more dragons than after the Corbex-Tatianna war. Oh uh, that was a large-scale war between two major dragon territories.") "Is something wrong, Helena?" Piper asked. "I asked the name of your... words. I did not expect the answer..." I replied. "Language. We speak Draconic," Piper helpfully added. I sighed. "Thanks." "What did you not expect?" Piper asked. I reverse-engineered the word dragon from the word draconic. "Do dragons really exist?" I asked. Piper glanced at her brother before shrugging. "Yeah? They''re real. We got to see one in person once but we never got close enough to talk with her." "And they''re giant flying lizards?" I asked. "Really, Helena?" Aria asked deadpan. Luna cleared her raspy throat. ("Calling dragons lizards is incredibly insulting... but to answer your question, they do look similar at a glance. I wouldn''t ask that question out loud again, some dragons have awful tempers.") Piper patted Aria on the shoulder. "Anyway, yes. We speak Draconic. It''s the most common language in this region since it''s so close to Ironcastle, a dragon city-state. There are a lot of .... and .... hunters and .... up in the town above too. Not as numerous and humans and beastkin though." ("There are a lot of Draco and Drakken hunters and villagers up in the town above,") Luna helpfully translated for me. "I shook my head. I have no idea what Draco or Drakken are," I said to Piper. She shrugged. "You''ll meet some eventually." ("That alchemist I told you about is a Drakken,") Luna said. "Come on, let''s get moving again... I want to get out of here," Aria grumbled. We continued on and... just kept walking. There aren''t any monsters to fight. The only ones that I can even hear are always already being killed by the other hunters in the tunnels that we''re walking past. The floor is... boring. In basically no time at all we made it to the stairs going up. Not surprising since there were signs posted leading the entire way. It felt more like I was walking through one of those cave tours than an actual dungeon anymore. I shook my head and started walking up the stairs with my friends. All of the tension and caution were gone from them. They still rested their hands on their weapons but not because they were afraid of anything anymore. ("Is there anything I should know about the next floor... or the next few?") I asked Luna as we ascended the stairs. ("Nope, they''re the same. The first five floors of this dungeon are basically identical except for the monsters you come across. It''s fairly common for dungeons to be like this. A quirk of how they grow and get stronger or something,") she replied. I sighed and continued up the stairs. Maybe I was getting addicted to fighting. It was something I never would have expected from myself. It could be the instincts influencing me but... I wasn''t sure about that. I kind of got really into running and cycling while I was training for the triathlon too... it feels kind of like that. I gripped the handle of my axe and looked across my friends'' weapons. It''s not like we''ll have any shortage of fighting going forward. It will just probably be elsewhere. I felt really conflicted about it, on one hand, I didn''t like it when I lost control or made stupid mistakes like with the clockwork ballerina fight. But hunting and ripping apart prey felt really so good. I shivered as I realized the influence of the umber wolf instincts on my thoughts. They... felt natural. It was getting harder to tell them apart from how I normally felt anymore... I''m not a monster. I sometimes look like one, but I''m not one. As long as I stay in control of myself and protect the ones I love, I will be okay. These instincts have guided me well so far and I am becoming a stronger more capable person every day... And sure... sometimes I longed for home, or longed for a burrito from my favorite Mexican joint, but giving all of that up is worth it... for her. Luna''s cute tail bounced back and forth up the stairs in front of me and the sight made me smile. Eventually, we made it to the fourth floor, and like Luna had said it looked the same as the last one. We continued to walk through the corridors where even more groups of people were walking through. There were so many people that we even had to squeeze past some groups in the tunnel. Many of them gave me a wary look as I towered above them while holding my huge axe. It was kind of wild that I was taller than so many people now. I used to be pretty tall for a woman but now I''m kind of tall for a man and not even when I''m in my werewolf form. Piper elbowed me in the side. "That''s a draco," she whispered while nodding to one of the groups that we were walking by. He looked like a large bulky man with a dragon''s head and scaled skin. He noticed me immediately since the two of us towered over everyone else. My eyes wandered over him taking in the differences. He had the general shape of a bodybuilder but looked svelte instead of ripped despite his larger torso and arms. The guy was wearing simple clothes despite his sword and shield, he seemed to have enough natural armor in his scales that he didn''t need anything more practical at this stage. His clothes looked a bit torn in places but his scales were unmarred. The draco noticed me staring and gave me a wide grin and a wink. Ugh. He probably thought I was admiring him and he totally misread my signals. Not into that, even if he does have a dragon''s head. I wonder what a female draco looks like... I dismissed the thought, I''m already dating slash engaged to Luna. Best not fantasize about a muscular dragon lady too... Chapter 70

<~> Chapter 70 This is so surreal. I''m waiting in a line right now. This was it, we were finally queued up to leave the dungeon. I looked around at the whole mess of people around me. Don''t get me wrong, I lived in a large city so being in a huge crowd isn''t the crazy part. It has more to do with the... variety of people around me. I couldn''t help but look around at everyone, which probably looked weird through the blindfold, and saw so many different humanoids. Beastkin of all different types made up a good half of everyone in the area, a fourth were humans, and the last fourth were draco and drakken, slightly weighted toward the shorter drakken. I secretly studied one of the drakken since no one could see what I was looking at through the blindfold. It was like a shorter draco, the ones I''ve seen were somewhere between three and five feet tall. I absolutely towered over them now at my much greater height. They all had vibrant colored scales in all colors of the rainbow, some even having gradients or metallic tints to them. While the draco looked more humanoid but with dragon heads and a few other dragon-like features, the drakken looked much more animalistic with their reverse bent legs and their long tails balancing out their almost raptor-like stances. They did have upright torsos though which at least made them seem more like people, and they were all dressed and chatting in draconic so I couldn''t mistake them for a monster, but all of it made me feel pretty strange. Especially since I was gigantic compared to everyone else. The only people who came close to my height were some of the draco but I was taller than most of them too. They tended to be a bit taller than most humans on average, but I''ve only come across two now that were about the same height as me. My best estimates put me at around six and a quarter feet tall in my human form, but without tape measures or a ruler, I wasn''t exactly sure. Few people around me even made it to six feet. Luna, who I thought was short, is actually kind of average and everyone else in my party is actually on the taller side when not compared to me. Our group took a few steps forward as the line slowly kept moving. Luna leaned against my arm and smiled up at me. ("Are you excited to finally see the surface?") I took her hand in mine and squeezed it. ("Very much so. I''m not sure what to expect up there but it''ll be good to finally get out of here and be somewhere actually safe after so long.") She nodded. ("Yes, deep dungeon dives like this can be stressful, especially if you weren''t prepared for it like we were. All you had was that small bag.") ("My purse, yeah,") I replied. ("I didn''t have much with me that was helpful. I would have died if it wasn''t for my regeneration and ability to eat monsters. Well, maybe not the eating part, I did run into you guys pretty quickly after I got here. It was only a few days before I ran into you... not counting the time I was knocked out with the corpse on top of me anyway.") I glanced at the crowd around us again and decided to change the subject. ("What other... species of people are there? Are there things like elves and dwarves?") Luna shrugged. ("I don''t know what elves and dwarves are, the rings didn''t translate those words into anything I know of. As for other species of people, they''re not very common this far inland but Aquilux are a race of semi-aquatic humanoids. There are also the Forn, they look like humanoid plant people, they have villages all over but there aren''t as many in this region except for the occasional trader. Oh, and I suppose the Trillin. They are the children of Drakken and beastkin, they''re not common because most beastkin don''t find Drakken suitable mates. You see them occasionally, most of them are traders or wandering tradesmen. They tend to be hit hard by the beastkin wanderlust.") ("Beastkin wanderlust?") I asked. She nodded. ("Yes, I think I mentioned it before but some places see beastkin as outsiders because they are more likely to travel around compared to the other races. Beastkin have a reputation for wanting to leave the place they grow up when they get old enough, which makes a lot of villagers resent having beastkin in their village because they can''t count on their villages growing the same way an exclusively human village might. A beastkin might have six kids over her life and it''s pretty likely not one of them will stay in the town when they come of age. It might even out if they accept traveling beastkin that want to settle down there, but many humans don''t like it because they can''t make the same multi-generational friendships they could have with humans or even draco. Trillin tend to be even more likely to leave and gravitate toward traveling jobs in particular. In a strange contradiction, people sometimes are more accepting of visiting Trillin than beastkin because they don''t expect them to stay in the first place.") ("That''s sad,") I replied. ("It is what it is,") she said with a shrug. ("It''s not like the reputation is unwarranted.") "We''re almost there everyone," Maxwell said while turning back to look at us. "I need to go to the desk to sell everything and pay taxes on our game. Aria needs to come with me to see if her party reported her missing. Since you," he said looking at me while trying to get a message across, "don''t want to go to the hunter''s desk with me, the rest of you should go find all of us an inn for tonight. We can see what our options are after we see how much we made from this trip." He turned to face me more directly. "Helena, we decided to split everything four ways for most of the dungeon, but that doesn''t include the... hound''s fur. Is a three-tenths fee for cleaning the pelt fair? That leaves you with the other seven-tenths and the bones, after taxes." Luna had to fill in a few words but I got the message. "Seven-tenths for that is fine. I trust you not to take advantage of me. I had already forgotten that we were not going to split the hound," I replied. Maxwell laughed. "You''ve already helped us a lot on this delve. I wouldn''t dare take advantage of you now." I nodded toward Aria. "What about Aria?" She flinched and her brow furrowed when I brought her up. "What about her?" Maxwell asked. "Are we going to give her a cut? She did help us on the last few floors." Aria suddenly looked surprised which... was an odd reaction. "But..." she stumbled.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Maxwell turned to look at her with an appraising glance. "Aria was supposed to pay us to escort her up here... She helped a bit, but I don''t know if giving her a cut would be appropriate," Maxwell said, conflicted. Aria looked between everyone nervously. "No cut," Piper said plainly. "But we can waive the fee for bringing her up... and she can keep those daggers. They''re probably worth something but none of us can use them anyway." Aria''s eyebrows rose and most of her worry evaporated. "Really!?" She looked at the rest of us to see if anyone would push back against Piper''s words. "Fine with me." I shrugged and Luna nodded in agreement. Aria let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "But..." Piper''s tone suddenly turned more serious. "If... the worst has happened with the rest of your group, come back to the inn with Maxwell. No arguments." "...Alright," Aria agreed. Piper pulled off her waist bag that held the slime cores she carried and she handed them to Maxwell with Luna following suit. Piper looked over at me. "You didn''t keep any slime cores did you?" I shook my head. "No." She nodded. "Good. You have some of that crystal on you but you didn''t take enough to have to declare it so you should be fine. Can I look through the rest of your bag?" I nodded and handed it over to her. She dug through it for a while and even opened my purse and looked at my broken phone with a confused look on her face before putting it back and handing the bag back over. "Everything looks good. You shouldn''t have any problems at bag check." After another ten minutes, our group finally reached the stairs. There were two draco soldiers wearing full armor guarding the stairwell. The one on the right held a hand up. "One moment, please." After another minute or so of silence, one of the short drakken reached the bottom of the stairs with another group of hunters following behind him. Once the group cleared the way, the soldiers stepped aside for us. "Follow him up to the top, the hunter''s outpost is on the left, the bag check is on the right." He nodded to the drakken soldier and waved us forward. My anxious anticipation was slowly growing as the five of us followed the drakken up the stairs and closer to the exit. Halfway through I could smell the scent of pine needles and feel cold air touch my skin. Luna pulled her robe tighter around herself, making me realize that it was even colder than I had thought, even though I couldn''t feel it. And then, with a final step, I was on the surface again. I was finally outside the cruel dungeon. It was late morning, not quite midday yet. We had been up for a while in our last sprint to get out of the dungeon today, which meant that we had left the lost halls in the middle of the night sometime. There was something different now that I was outside again, like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. It wasn''t just anxiety, I actually felt lighter. It looked pretty cold and I could see my breath. It wasn''t snowing but the nearby mountain chain was covered in it, and from the looks of things, it might start snowing here too. The city was in some kind of valley, nestled between two rows of mountains. I couldn''t see much of the city from here. At the top of the stairs was the entrance to three buildings with large walls built between them and another that wrapped its way around the dungeon stairs. Signs were posted above each building but I couldn''t read them, we had been focused on teaching me to speak, not to read. "You three are that way, toward bag check. Aria and I are going this way," he said pointing at the two opposite buildings. "Piper, the usual inn... two rooms I think. We''ll figure out what we''re doing next later tonight. I suspect it will take a while to meet up so feel free to take Helena on a tour of the city." "I will bro, take care of Aria. See you later tonight." Our group split up just as the drakken soldier was getting annoyed with us for holding up the line. I followed Piper and Luna to the bag check building. ("Do I need to do anything, or worry about anything going through here?") I asked Luna. She shook her head. ("No, just don''t wave your axe at anyone or make a fuss with them touching your stuff. They won''t take anything and shouldn''t break anything. They''re just making sure we''re not smuggling anything out that Maxwell needs to declare like monster parts. Or large amounts of that crystal on your waist.") We got in another line that reminded me of airport security, but luckily it moved pretty quickly. We spent some time waiting for the people to look through all of our stuff, my phone once again got some odd looks, but we finally made it through. On the other side of the bag check Luna took my hand as we walked through the door into the dungeon city. The city sprawled between the two snowcapped mountains in long bands in both directions, built around a sparkling river in a channel that cut through the middle. Right outside of the dungeon building were large multistory buildings made of what looked like stone and white concrete. The road that led up to the dungeon was packed full of people, and there were all sorts of food stands and tent shops between the buildings down the road. The air was fresh and smelled like the pine trees that were growing between some of the buildings, off in the distance, and on the mountainside. Unfortunately, my blindfold made everything look a bit fuzzy and undefined past a particular point and I wasn''t going to remove it as long as there were people around, so instead I got to see all of the various people and objects around me lit up with magic. It was a little disappointing that I wouldn''t be able to look around with my own eyes but it was hard not to enjoy the novel experience of looking at everything with this curious form of sight. I was happy to see that in the sunlight I could make out colors in a way that I couldn''t in the dungeon, even while using the crystal tied to my belt, but they were muted compared to what my true eyes would see. Despite the dull roar of chatter and barkers, I was able to distinguish the sounds around me pretty well too, I didn''t feel quite as overloaded after my experience with the clockwork floor and the incessant beeping of the heart rate monitors on my version of the lost halls. Luna squeezed my hand. ("Come on, there''s so much I want to show you!") I laughed as Luna pulled me toward another adventure in the new world that I''ve found myself in.

End of Book 1

Book 2 - Chapter 71

<~> Book 2 - Chapter 71 "Where are we headed first?" I asked Luna as she pulled me through the crowded city streets. Her cute red and white fox tail bounced behind her as she led me along. Every now and then she would glance back at me with her bright blue eyes and show me her excited smile. I wasn''t the only one who had been on an extended dungeon dive, my friends had been in there even longer. I never asked how long they had been down there before meeting me, but considering how long it took us to climb out of there as a group, it must have been a long time. ("There''s this bakery near the edge of the city that sells the meat pies I was telling you about. It''s early enough today that they should still have some in stock for lunch!") Luna told me through the magic rings our group wore, except for Aria. "Hey, Luna! Slow down! I''m coming with you two!" Piper groused from behind me. She pulled her fiery red hair out of her face as she struggled to keep up with us. Most of the people in the streets made way for our fierce healer and swordswoman but it wasn''t until we got off the main road connected to the dungeon that she didn''t have to struggle to keep up with my enthusiastic girlfriend. "I know you''re excited Luna, gods know that I''d itching to eat some food that we didn''t fish out of the dungeon or take as rations, but it''s too crowded to be running off." Piper focused on Luna as she silently responded to Piper through the rings. After a few moments of silence, she sighed. "I know Helena is plenty strong enough to protect you, that''s not the issue. It would just be a gigantic pain to find you again if you two lost me in this mass of people." Piper rolled her eyes and looked over at me. "I haven''t seen her this excited in a while. Come on, the place isn''t much farther from here." The three of us walked through the crowds that were a bit more dispersed on this road. There were still plenty of people here but the path was a bit more narrow so it wasn''t quite as busy as the main dungeon road. This area looked more residential, they were homes for the many people that operated the businesses and stalls on the main road. "Are you doing okay with the crowds?" Piper asked me curiously. I laughed. "There''s a lot of people here but it isn''t much different from where I come from really. The paths on the... grounds of my learning place would get just as packed like this around lunchtime too," I responded. No idea how to say community college in their tongue. Draconic tongue, as I''ve only recently been informed. The crowds weren''t unusual, about the same as a mall or the college campus, the part that was novel to me was the people. "Good! Fallow isn''t that large of a city but it''s much bigger than any of the villages between here and Ironcastle. Most of the places we''ll need to visit will probably involve crowds like these, outside of the dungeon delves of course, so it''s good that they aren''t a problem for you. Some villagers freeze up when they''re surrounded by so many people for the first time." Now that we were out of the dungeon I was getting a better look at all of the different races of people here. Beastkin were walking around in all sorts of animal flavors, cute children with animal ears ran past pretty often. Humans were the next most numerous and it was sometimes a challenge to differentiate the beastkin from the humans that walked by without a closer look. They weren''t consistently just humans with animal ears and tails, sometimes their animal parts looked blended into their bodies in completely different ways. Some had more animalistic limbs but perfectly human faces and some had an animal head but were otherwise human, it was crazy how much more variety it gave the crowds. The humans ranged from pale light-skinned people all the way to charcoal black-skinned people and everything in between in a surprisingly even mix. I could see hints of the different ethnicities from my world in them but their features were much more varied and none of them lined up with any particular ethnicities one to one from back home. The variation between people''s faces here was almost as distinct as the variation between all of the different beastkin. There were also a lot of drakken out here, the short dragon people with more animalistic legs. They seemed more numerous in the crowds compared to when we were in the dungeon where they made up a smaller percentage of the people. There were also some draco walking around, the more human-like dragon people, but they were less numerous than any of the other groups. I also spotted a few of them with wings! Although I didn''t see anyone flying around here, so who knows if they are actually functional wings or not. I haven''t seen any of the other races around yet, the semi-aquatic Aquiluxes or the plant-like Forn people. Apparently this is a region mostly ruled by dragons. Does that make dragons de facto royalty? I wouldn''t be surprised if they were as powerful as the fantasy stories always made them out to be in my world. I was curious if they were like, four-legged winged lizards or if they were more like giant draco. I hadn''t thought to ask but it doesn''t seem like the right time for those kinds of questions right now. ("Here it is! This is the place and they still have some in stock! I''m going to tell Piper to buy each of us one!") Luna said rapidly. Piper chuckled and nodded before stepping to the counter to order for the three of us. Luna''s smile faltered a little, her ears tilting ever so slightly back, giving away that something was bothering her. I squeezed her hand to grab her attention. ("Something wrong?") Her brow wrinkled a little. ("Just sad that I can''t be the one to buy them for all of us, it can be frustrating trying to talk to shop keeps.") Her fingers reached up to trace the scars on her throat, remnants of the trauma that had left her almost entirely mute. I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against me. There wasn''t much I could say here, it was better to just literally give her someone to lean on. She seemed to brighten up as she took comfort in me holding her. "Cool it lovebirds, we''re in public," Piper said with a laugh once she returned with the food. We weren''t the only people around being touchy with each other nearby so I figured Piper was just teasing us. I wouldn''t want to do something inappropriate in public but it didn''t seem to be an issue from the context.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. "Three meat pies! Luna''s favorite! She always makes us eat these before going on a new delve. I like them, but she''s crazy about them," Piper said with a laugh. "What kind of meat is in them?" I asked while lightly raking my fork across the crispy crust. "Fowl. The land around here isn''t good for much else. Even most of the grain here is brought in from Ironcastle, it wouldn''t even be possible for a town out here to exist if it wasn''t for the dungeon. There''s a reason this place was named Fallow." I looked around at all the pine trees. "They can''t grow much food here? It doesn''t look barren, why would pine trees grow but other crops not grow here?" Piper shrugged. "I don''t know much about farming. I grew up on an orchard, not a traditional crop farm so I don''t know much about why the ground here isn''t good for it. I wasn''t really involved in the planting part either so I couldn''t tell you if other kinds of trees would work. I mostly just collected fruit and took care of the animals. There must be something wrong with the soil here though because they can''t seem to grow much of anything." "Could the dungeon have something to do with it?" I asked. "Could be, my guess would be as good as yours." ("Enough talking! Try the food before it gets cold!") Luna urged. I chuckled at her eagerness and broke the crust to take a bite. It was delicious! The meat was rich and flavorful, seasoned with something I couldn''t place and it tasted pretty unique to me. Hell, the spices might not even exist on earth. The crust was flaky and had a satisfying crunch to it without being dry or overpowering. It was so good I decided that I agreed with Luna, these meat pies were amazing! Luna gave me a pleased grin. ("So, how do you like it?") She knew damn well that I liked it, there was no way it wasn''t plain on my face as I took my time to savor each bite. The only reason I chose to respond at all was because I didn''t need to stop eating to answer while using the rings. ("It''s soooo good,") I replied. ("I''m glad,") Luna replied with a giggle. Piper laughed at my reaction to the food. "Seems you like it. Great, now it''ll be even harder to talk Luna out of this place every time. I hope you''re willing to give my favorite place a try too, you might like it even more." I licked my lips. "After this, I think I''d be up for trying out some new food." Once we finished eating we walked around the town. Our funds were limited right now and we would have to visit a money changer before we could use any of the gold coins we had found in the dungeon. Piper suggested that it would be better to wait for Maxwell to finish with the hunter''s association before we bothered with that, but it would be a while before he would be finished there so we had a lot of time to just look around. Near the main road that met perpendicular to the road leading to the dungeon was an aqueduct that carried freshwater through the center of town from a spring up in the mountains down to the lake on the other side of the valley. Because this place had grown out of a town that formed around the dungeon, many of the businesses had paid money to have this place furnished with a simple sewage system that connected to the aqueduct on the other side of town. It made me much less interested in visiting the downstream lake but I wasn''t sure how bad it would be, especially since their sewer reconnected with the leftover freshwater before making it to the lake. Piper and Luna both seemed quite pleased to talk about how genius the sewer and water system was here. I guess I should just be pleased that this world did have something similar to functioning toilets instead of something more basic like latrines and outhouses. The large aqueduct that cut through the city built from bright white concrete and stone did look pretty with the sparkling clear water flowing through it. The buildings looked like simple constructions of stone but had a lot of decorative reliefs carved into the stone walls of all kinds of things. A few of the buildings were painted but a majority of them were just plain whites and greys with blue fresco accents on many of the buildings. A lot of the building''s doors, shuttered windows, and flooring used pine wood, not a surprise based on the availability of the building material. There was some glass around here and there too but it didn''t seem like it was being used for windows, most of the cups and bowls I saw looked like they were probably hand-blown. One particular relief caught my attention and I was sure I had spent almost an hour walking around inspecting it. Unless there was a lot of artistic liberty being used here, I got the answer to my earlier question about dragons. There was a giant relief carving on one of the buildings of a dragon with four limbs, two large wings, and breathing fire. The dragon was surrounded by drakken, draco, and humans. Between them was a ring of what looked like coins and around that was a ring of fire at the edges of the relief that connected to the dragon''s breath, surrounding the entire scene. I was a bit worried at first but Luna told me that the fire around the scene symbolized the protection of dragons, it didn''t symbolize the dragons being tyrannical jailors or something like that. I wasn''t entirely convinced after seeing dragons mostly portrayed as monsters in fantasy stories but I held my tongue about that. It was late into the afternoon when Piper decided that my little art tour of the city would be over and we should go see about rooms at the inn they liked. Maxwell should be done with the association soon and we''ll be able to talk about what our plans are from here. Even if everyone decides that they need to do another delve, after our time in there we should have made plenty of money to wait a while before heading back in. Part of me didn''t look forward to going back into the dungeon after finally escaping it... but part of me continued to hunger for the battles and challenges the dungeon had provided. Chapter 72

<~> Chapter 72 The inn that my friends liked was raucous and loud when we entered. The entire first floor of the place looked more like a bar than an inn with many tables of drunk patrons downing cups of dark ales. This place was called Fallow for its poor agriculture but you wouldn''t think that based on the amount of alcohol people were drinking here. Piper directed me and Luna to an empty table while she headed off to speak with a woman about rooms for the night. ("How did you like the city?") Luna asked me. ("It looks beautiful. I''m surprised there is so much art built into the walls of a city that I had assumed would be more utilitarian. I thought that things would be more plain and functional.") Luna nodded. ("I can see why you would think that but the dungeon makes everyone in this city a lot of money. Delvers like us go in to harvest and pull things out of it, the hunter''s association takes their share of everything we bring up as either coin or shares of our spoils, the city gets its taxes from both the delvers and the association, and a lot of the raw materials are turned into new things by the crafters. A majority of everything that comes out of the dungeon or is crafted by someone here is exported to other places for even more coin. Money really flows freely here. The city spends a lot to make sure the caravans that are importing and exporting goods make it back and forth to Ironcastle safely.") I gestured over to one of the nearby tables of loud drinkers. ("Is that why these guys can afford to drink so much?") ("Alcohol prices are pretty low because they import it in large volumes from Ironcastle, I''ve heard. Delvers are known to drink a lot because of our magically enhanced constitutions and the high stress of working in the dungeon, plus Ironcastle usually has rich yields of grain. Delvers drink a lot in Ironcastle too of course, but they grow enough grain and hops there that they can export a lot of it to nearby cities.") ("Enhanced constitutions?") I asked. Luna smiled. ("When we kill monsters in the dungeon, or even monsters and magical creatures that have mana outside of dungeons, we absorb some of the mana into ourselves. That mana strengthens our bodies, sharpens our focus, deepens our mana pool, and makes us healthier and harder to kill. That goes for poisons and alcohol too. We don''t absorb the mana as quickly as you do through eating the monsters, but we do get stronger for every monster that dies near us.") ("I suppose that makes sense,") I said with a shrug. Piper sat down at our table with three mugs of ale. "You drink, right Helena?" "Not really," I replied. "I''ve had some but I only recently turned twenty-one." Piper raised an eyebrow. "Twenty-one? What does that have anything to do with anything?" "It was... No one is allowed to drink under the age of twenty-one where I came from." She laughed. "Not allowed? By who?" I shrugged. ("The government?") I said through the rings. Piper scoffed. "What kind of city would ban alcohol under twenty-one? Most people would leave." Uh... I was starting to see a disconnect here. I switched to talking through the rings so nothing would get lost in translation. ("Piper, are cities independent here? When I said government, I meant all of the cities that belonged to the country I was in.") Her brows furrowed. "Wait wait, you''re saying someone controlled all of the cities in a region and allowed none of them to drink alcohol under twenty-one? That sounds ...." ("Tyrannical") Luna told me through the rings. "Well... It''s a bit more uh, difficult than that." "Complex I think you mean," Piper corrected. "Sure. Anyway, alcohol is kind of bad for you, especially for young people. It can have all sorts of bad effects on the head. Regardless, I didn''t drink much. I did get really sick on my twenty-first birthday but that was a while ago." ("I''m not a big drinker either, just a mug or two is good enough for me,") Luna said. I picked up a mug of beer and took a sip. It was warm and pretty bitter. I didn''t drink much beer back home, I mostly drank fruity cocktails, so this was kind of... gross. "I don''t get the feeling I''ll be much of a beer drinker either," I said before forcing myself to take another sip and setting the mug down. Piper took a sip of her ale. "You know, that makes you the same age as me, Maxwell is a year older than us and little Luna is a year younger." Luna''s lips pursed and then Piper suddenly laughed. "No, I will not stop calling you that. You''ll always be little Luna to me," Piper proclaimed. "Oh shit, there''s Maxwell and Aria. Looks like bad news." She leaned over and waved. I turned around and saw the two of them coming over. Maxwell looked mostly relaxed but Aria looked down. Maxwell waved at one of the waitresses. "Five more!" he called out pointing at my mug of ale. "I don''t know if I can drink all that," I told him. He shrugged. "I''ll finish it if you can''t." Piper reached out and grabbed Aria''s hand. "You alright?" Aria took a breath and replied with a shaky voice. "I''m the first of my party to return to the surface... well past our expected return date. It''s been two months since we were supposed to return so they marked us as missing, likely dead. That means I can''t account for almost three months of time between the last thing I still remember and waking up when you guys saved me." There was a long silence at the table before she continued. "I... I left a note but I''m going to stick with you guys from now on if... everyone will have me..." Luna tapped me on the wrist. ("Tell her I''m happy to have her.")Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. I nodded. "Luna says she''s happy to have you, and I am too." Piper squeezed her hand. "Of course you''re welcome with us." She sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I just hope what the dungeon showed me wasn''t real..." "The dungeon lies," Piper snapped. She suddenly looked guilty and quickly cleared her throat. "Sorry, I didn''t mean to be so... forceful with that. But it''s true, don''t trust what the dungeon showed you. That floor intentionally manipulates you so that it can break you down and make you vulnerable. I wouldn''t trust anything it showed you as true." I nodded. "It showed me stuff that I know isn''t true to mess with me. Don''t let any of that bother you." She took another deep breath and nodded. "You all are probably right. I''ll... try to put it out of my mind." Maxwell nodded. "If you''re joining from here on, then I''ll tell you what we told Helena. Even split, five ways now. Chests are distributed to whoever can best use whatever we find, sold for money if no one wants it. If the dungeon favors someone too much we might agree to take it out of your share. Other items are on a case by case basis, we can figure it out if it comes down to it." Aria sighed. "Sure, sounds standard." Maxwell paused as a waitress stopped by to drop five more mugs of ale on the table. She smiled but didn''t say anything. "So," Maxwell said. "That brings us to the next thing we need to talk about. I have some good news, some bad news, and some really good news." "Bad news first," I said instantly. Piper laughed and Maxwell shook his head. "Fine. Bad news first. After I talked with them about some of the strange things we went through on this delve they''re closing the dungeon off to independents. Only the large guilds they work with will be allowed to delve for a while, that means that we will have to go to Ironcastle before our next payment is due." Sounds like good news to me. I do not want to go into that dungeon anytime soon. I''d really like the opportunity to see a bit more of the world first. Luna tapped me on the shoulder with a big smile. ("And the good news?") I smiled. "Luna really wants to know the good news now." Maxwell nodded. "Good news, we got paid a pretty decent amount for information on the monsters and how to deal with the entrance on floor seventeen, especially with the included pelt of that bear-thing. We got paid a good amount for the umber hound sighting too, with the pelt as proof of that. Less well for the weird monster we fought in the bloody halls since we don''t have anything but our word on that one. We also got a lot for the news that the lost halls are... broken, or whatever happened to them." I smiled wider. "And the really good news?" Maxwell smiled back, happier than I had ever seen him. "After everything, assuming Helena contributes a bit, we will have enough to pay off the rings if we go straight to Ironcastle and deliver the money in person." Piper cheered as she and Luna raised their mugs of ale and clinked them together. I raised my mug as well. "Of course I''ll contribute!" This got another round of cheering, this time with all of us joining in the toast as our mugs crashed into each other. "How tight will this make us?" Piper asked. "If Helena contributes about half of what she made, which is about what each of us were already putting towards the goal, we should have plenty left over for good food, some small purchases, the caravan to Ironcastle, and ANOTHER ROUND!" Maxwell called out the last part loudly to the waitress who laughed and waved at him in acknowledgment. Luna looked happy but I could see some hesitation from her. I tapped her on the knee. ("What''s wrong, Luna?") She turned to me looking a bit sheepish. ("We were also saving for someone to teach me silent casting.") "What about Luna''s magic lessons?" I asked out loud. Maxwell''s face suddenly fell a bit. "Right... those. Since we are so close to the goal of the rings, we might need to put that on hold..." "Could I make up the difference?" I asked. Piper shook her head. "Probably not, we were already putting a lot of our funds toward that pool to make earning money easier, but if we''re this close to our debt now, we need to prioritize getting rid of it. I''m sure Maxwell was including the amount set aside for that. It will take off a lot of the time pressure we''ve been under though. It will make it much easier to save for silent casting training after." Piper paused for a few moments while looking at Luna before replying to whatever she had said to her through the rings. "Of course we''ll still help you with that, it''s not like our group is splitting up the moment the rings are paid off. We''re family and we need to stick together." The earnestness of Piper made me tear up a little. I reached over and grabbed Luna''s hand. "I''ll help too! We''ll make sure to earn it even faster this time!" Luna hugged me from the side and nuzzled her face into my neck. Her display of affection was so sudden it caught me off guard. And her ears were tickling me. I laughed and wrapped my arms around her before pulling her chin up and giving her a kiss. "Not in front of the children," Piper joked. I laughed while letting go of Luna. "There''s no children in here." "There could be! Unlike your backward society, we allow our children to drink! Like civilized people!" Piper said with a laugh. Maxwell let out a big hearty laugh that I hadn''t heard from him before. "Get the children out of here, more for me!" He lifted his mug and started to down the ale in one long draw. Caught up in the mood I lifted the mug to my lips and tried to match him but I quickly had to give it up because I couldn''t handle the taste. This only made everyone laugh when I started to cough and sputter halfway through my mug. "Careful Luna, your girl doesn''t look like she can handle her alcohol," Piper said turning to her. Luna just stuck her tongue out at Piper before attempting, and failing, to do the same thing just as spectacularly. After a while, even the dour mood that Aria was in had faded and now she and Maxwell were having some sort of drinking contest. I licked my lips, happy with the pleasant buzz I was feeling halfway through my second cup of ale. I wasn''t much of a beer drinker but I was having lots of fun. Good to see that whatever happened to me didn''t completely take away my ability to enjoy booze too. Luna slid her chair closer to me and leaned against my arm. She took another sip of her ale and sighed as she relaxed against me. The five of us had a couple more rounds before Piper eventually pushed us toward our respective rooms. Piper had booked a third room at some point during all of that and she ushered the two of us into one of them alone. I''d like to say that we enjoyed our night together, but the two of us passed out moments after slipping into bed together. Chapter 73

<~> Chapter 73 I woke with a start and looked around wildly at the unfamiliar room I was in. ("Helena? Are you okay?") Luna worriedly clutched my side as I began to calm down. I shook my head and rubbed my face. "Just... I wasn''t sure where I was when I woke up. I freaked out a little..." ("It''s okay. You''re safe here. We''re not in the dungeon anymore, you can relax.") "Right... right..." I pulled her against my chest and took a deep breath. "I need to buy some clothes today. The spare clothes I got from the clockwork floor aren''t very comfortable for sleeping in..." She nuzzled into my side and let out a contented sigh. ("There''s a lot of stuff we should pick up if we''re planning on heading to Ironcastle next. We should also get you signed up as a hunter at the association, the membership fee will be cheap relative to the amount of money we must have gotten from our last delve. We might want to see if there are any deals on equipment while we''re at it too.") I ran one of my hands up and down her back gently, enjoying just staying close to her. "It might be fun to go shopping, maybe we should go just the two of us and have dinner together afterward," I switched to the rings for the part I didn''t know how to say, ("like a proper date.") The corner of her lips tugged into a smile. ("I think I would like that... we''ll have to get our shares of the coin from Maxwell and visit the money changer for that gold we found in the dungeon too. After that, it should be fine for us to spend some time alone together and visit a few shops.") I leaned in and started kissing her, happy to have the time away from the others. She let out a surprised gasp when I started making out with her but she quickly leaned into it and showed just as much enthusiasm for the kiss as I felt for her. Her hand trailed up the side of my face and cupped my jaw. When I pulled away I felt a bit breathless, I''d never had the chance to make out with someone like that before. It felt so good being this close with Luna. She smiled as she trailed her fingers along my jaw. ("I liked that,") she whispered through the rings. "I liked that too," I said before planting another kiss on her forehead. She rested her head against my chest again and sighed. ("Can we lie together for a while longer? In the dungeon, we never got a chance to just... be together for a while.") I ran my fingers through her hair and smiled. "Of course. Let''s rest a while longer." *** A few hours later we were coming down the stairs back to the bar on the first floor of the inn. Unlike last night the place was a lot more quiet and reserved. The few guests that were here at midday weren''t loud and rowdy, they were just quietly eating and drinking in the relaxed atmosphere. All of us pulled out a chair as we took the same table we had been drinking at last night. "Right, so first thing''s first, the money," Maxwell said as he pulled a bag from his pack and sat it on the table. He gave a quick glance around at the other people in the bar but didn''t seem that concerned about it. "Is it smart to do that here?" I asked. Maxwell shrugged. "If it were busier here, maybe not. But most people in this town are delvers and it''s more profitable to make your money in the dungeon than risk stealing from people on the surface. Anyone who would try to steal from us would be more likely to try and steal from other people in the dungeon instead, where they''d be less likely to get caught." "I thought you said the dungeon was closed?" I whispered. "Closed to independents like us, not everyone. Anyone working in a large company or for a business will be delayed, but not barred from the dungeon. Likely only a third of the people in this town are independent like us." I nodded. "Sure, but why are you independent then?" Piper sighed. "A few reasons. First, not everyone would be willing to take Luna because she''s functionally mute, especially because we would have to insist on staying as a group. Second, a lot of companies end up with downtime between contracts. It ends up being about the same amount of money or better in the long run, but not making enough money before one of our payments was a huge risk we couldn''t take. Lastly, while it''s harder to find jobs, the ones we do get pay better because we don''t have to give a cut to the company we would be working for, we only pay the taxes to the city. Even though contracts with independents tend to pay less, we still make more since we keep everything after taxes, it''s a win-win if we can find someone who needs something from the dungeon." "Were you on a contract this time?" I asked. Piper shook her head. "No, we were in there to get stronger by fighting goblins and bringing back whatever valuable stuff we could find. We were already close to having what we needed for this payment so we were working on getting stronger and putting away what we could for Luna''s magic training." She turned to Maxwell. "Oh, that reminds me. Did you remember to report that guy we took with us as dead?" Maxwell grimaced. "I did. They weren''t happy about that but I explained what happened. They hadn''t had any reports of goblins using poison either but with everything else we brought back, they believed me. The dungeon is getting more dangerous across the board, no one knows what''s happening to it. The goblins using poison was just another piece of that puzzle. I paid some of our earnings to his sister like we agreed, I''m just happy that I wasn''t forced to talk with her in person."Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Piper nodded. "The guy was an idiot but it''s never good when someone you fight with dies." "Helena," Maxwell said focusing on me. "I showed the association the umber hound pelt and bones as proof it was down there, but I kept them for you. I think the pelt would make great armor for you, I''ll show you an armor smith that I like if you think it''s a good idea. Since it was your kill I took part of your share from the other stuff to cover treating it for tanning, but I didn''t want to sell it before I knew what you wanted to do." Luna tapped me on the arm. ("I agree that you should get it turned into armor. We don''t know a lot about how your wolf form functions magically, but armor made from an umber hound could resonate with your magic. It might make your wolf form stronger or even have other effects.") I nodded. "That sounds good then, what about the armor I found in the dungeon?" Maxwell shrugged. "It''s decent armor but magically enhanced armor from an umber hound would be better. You could sell it as secondhand armor or keep it as a backup." I tapped the crystal on my hip. "I think I''d also like to have this made into something practical. Even if it is just something like a lantern for me while I''m wearing the blindfold." Piper nodded. "We should find a jeweler to examine it, see if it''s worth anything. Do you have any more of it than that?" she asked while gesturing to the stone. "I have four shards about this size," I said tracing my palm, "and I have six that are about the size of my fingernail. I thought that it would be neat to have matching jewelry or something made from it." "Since it''s magical, it might be useful for its effects too," Maxwell added. "Uh, I know of a good jeweler that I could introduce you guys to," Aria interjected. "I''ve worked with her a few times to run crystals back from the twelfth floor for her." "Are you independent too, Aria?" I asked. She nodded. "Yeah... Rodrick was really good at finding us contracts so we never had any reason to join a company." She looked down at the table. "He was such a people person..." The mood soured and there was a long pause. Maxwell cleared his throat. "For now, let''s divide the money amongst ourselves." He opened the bag and started dividing the money into five groups of coins in neat stacks. He pointed at the largest of the groups first. "This amount here is what we need for the rest of the debt, including Helena''s contribution toward it. A little under seven gold wyverns altogether. These four stacks are what we''re dividing up between the rest of us." "Do you have any money, Aria, or are you broke?" I asked her. "I had some money held at the bank for me... Since you four didn''t charge me anything for bringing me back up with you guys, I should have maybe half of one of these splits in total," she said gesturing to one of the groups of coins. Maxwell gestured to the four groups of coins next. "Each of us will get nine gold tigers, eight silver bears, four silver pumas, and sixteen copper rabbits. The rest of the debt that we owe, including what he had saved, is six wyverns, eight tigers, and four deer." Maxwell looked up at me for a second and realized I was struggling to follow. "That''s sixty-eight gold tigers. Tigers are ten to one gold wyvern. Ten deer or five puma to one silver bear, ten bears to a tiger, and twenty copper rabbits to a deer," Maxwell said quickly pointing to the different coins. I might have to write this down for myself... I pointed at the stack of gold tigers. "That''s a lot of money then, isn''t it?" Piper and Aria laughed and Maxwell shook his head in amusement. "Yes and no. It is a lot of money to a villager or someone who isn''t a delver. You could get a lot of beer and food for one of these gold tigers, maybe an entire winter''s worth for a single villager. But to us, this money can go fast right back into our equipment. If you do decide to get that armor made, half of your tigers will probably go into that, even with the materials you''ll be giving them for it. You might be able to make a deal if you let him keep whatever umber hound bones he has left over, but I''d expect it to be expensive." "And how much is that magic teacher that Luna wants?" I asked. "Thirty-five tigers is the price we were quoted, could be more could be less depending on who we talk to and how busy they are," Maxwell replied. I nodded. It did seem that was out of our price range for now. We needed some equipment and clothes and stuff and even if we pooled all of our remaining money we would have around forty tigers. We could do it, but we wouldn''t have as much left for anything else. "What about the money changer?" I asked. Maxwell nodded, "This doesn''t account for any of that. We agreed that you could keep everything in that first chest you found, including the money, but we were going to split the coins from the other two chests. This doesn''t include any of that. They have to weigh the gold and silver and then they take a cut before trading them for hunter coins. It takes a while so we should probably do that early in the day." I glanced at Luna and smiled. "I wanted to spend some time with Luna alone, clothes shopping and having dinner. Can we do that today or are we too busy?" Piper snickered. "We don''t mind letting you have time to yourselves but there''s a bit too much to do today. We need to visit the money changer which will take a while, we should look into the armor and crystals, and we still need to sign you up for the hunter''s association. We''ll have a couple days before we leave for Ironcastle though so you''ll have time to spend with each other," she said with a wink. Maxwell nodded. "We need to take care of the big purchases like your armor first before you spend money on clothes and luxuries." I frowned. "Having more than one pair of pants outside of my armor doesn''t feel like a luxury." Everyone laughed and giggled as I shook my head. Chapter 74

<~> Chapter 74 We stood outside the hunter''s association building. We already took care of the money changer and now we were five gold tigers and four silver bears richer. The amount from the first chest I got gave me another two tigers and two bears on top of that. The animal money thing is kind of funny to me, but I suppose people called one hundred dollar bills "Benjamins" too so it''s not that strange. From the cursory glance I got of the prices at the restaurant we went to, we had quite a bit of money. The nice place we went yesterday after leaving the dungeon asked for a few deer for all of our food and I now had more than one thousand deer if I converted all the gold down. Pretty good. The prices didn''t transfer neatly, of course, some things cost way more and other things seemed to cost less at a glance but that didn''t change that we had a lot of money on us now. Maxwell reassured me that it wasn''t that much to delvers and that we were already considered experienced delvers by this town''s standards, but still. I found out later that Maxwell and Piper split the tab for all the beer we had last night and turned me down when I offered to pay them back. They said that picking up my tab was the least they could do for getting them the rest of the money they needed to pay off the rings. Once we sorted out a few more things here, we would start trying to find a caravan to Ironcastle and the first step to that plan was registering me as a hunter. Apparently, the fairly generic term of hunter usually referred to something that would land closer to monster hunter in my tongue. It did overlap with hunting game but there was an understanding that ''hunters'' usually referred to people who hunted monsters for money or delved dungeons. Though the term ''delver'' was coming up fairly often too but that was mostly pointing out a specialization rather than making a clear distinction. Not all that surprising since a majority of the money our group made was from the gross monster parts Maxwell had been carrying around in his magic larger on the inside bag. "I''m going to ask to speak with the branch manager when you join up," Maxwell said. "We need to tell them that you''re not actually blind. The hunter''s association has seen some weird stuff and I don''t think any branch manager would panic over your eyes the same way most people might." "Should I tell them anything about the other stuff?" I asked. "No, just keep to the obvious stuff. The manager might be curious but don''t answer anything unless one of us signals you to," he replied. "Alright." He spoke to one of the receptionists and scheduled a meeting for us as soon as the manager was finished with their current one. We were fortunate that he had a block of time free today so we could knock out my registration during the meeting too. Normally managers aren''t involved with membership but Maxwell said this was a special case and got the receptionist to agree. Maxwell''s word had a bit of weight to them after the amount of intelligence he sold the guild when we returned to the surface. Probably about half an hour later we were led into an office in the back of the building. The gruff draco sitting at the large desk nodded to us when we entered. "I didn''t expect to see you again so soon Maxwell. And with your entire team no less, though, it seems you have an additional person in your group today." The blindfold I''m wearing lets me see how much mana people have in their bodies at a glance, which gives me a decent read on how strong they are. I was a bit surprised to realize that my friends and I glowed significantly more brightly than most of the people coming and going from the dungeon, let alone the general populace of the city. This guy was on a whole different level though. He seemed ridiculously strong. Maxwell nodded. "This is Helena. She''s someone from our hometown that we want to delve and travel with. We intended to delve together but since we are barred from this dungeon for now, we''ve decided to return to Ironcastle. We chose to register her as part of our group so that she can help us find a caravan escort job." Luna filled in some of the words that I didn''t know as Maxwell said them. She had become pretty good at telling me when he said a word that I wouldn''t know. The draco looked me over with a raised eye ridge. His red scales caught the light as his muscular body shifted as he looked me over. "I assume that you wouldn''t request a meeting over something like this unless there was a problem. She didn''t bump into any chairs walking in here so I assume she isn''t actually blind, but that couldn''t be the only reason you needed to talk with me. Is she even strong enough to be in a group with you four? Delving all the way to the seventeenth floor isn''t an easy task." "Helena is probably the strongest fighter out of everyone in my group. The only thing she lacks is experience in a dungeon. She''s been hunting monsters unofficially for a while now," Maxwell admitted. The draco pursed his lips but didn''t say anything. After a moment he gestured for Maxwell to continue. "And the issue?" "Helena, the blindfold." He gestured to me before turning back to the draco. "She has a... quality that would make most people uneasy if they saw it openly." I pulled the blindfold off and opened my eyes. The man flinched when he saw them but didn''t jump or react any more than that. His brow ridge furrowed as his eyes searched me for a moment. Eventually, he broke eye contact with me and looked back at Maxwell. "You showed us a skinned umber hound and then brought back a friend with glowing white eyes... You know, there was a form saying an extra person had left with the rest of your group but I assumed it had been an error by the person doing the paperwork. I wouldn''t have even looked at that if you hadn''t brought in so many high-value parts, but I had this time. Be honest with me, you found this... ''human'' in the dungeon, didn''t you?" I didn''t like how this was going so far. "Sir," I said interrupting. "I can explain." He studied my face. "You certainly look the part, if it wasn''t for the eyes... Why should I trust anything that comes out of your mouth? Are you some kind of monster posing as a human? Why should I even entertain the idea of letting you walk out of here alive? Let alone joining the association." This was quickly escalating in a way I hadn''t been expecting. Maxwell cleared his throat, not looking nearly as nervous as I felt. "James, with all due respect, Helena has saved our lives multiple times over and could have stabbed us in the back anytime she wanted to. She also helped us hunt more monsters than we would ordinarily be able to and agreed to split the money the same way any other hunter would. She didn''t even know us the first time she saved our lives, I was shitting myself when I first saw her walking up to us. I understand how frightening Helena''s situation is, but trust me when I say that she is on our side. I''d stake my life on it." The draco smirked. "So, you admit that you found her in the dungeon then?" Maxwell''s eyebrows rose, it seemed he didn''t realize what he had admitted to.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. He leaned back in his chair and cupped his chin. "She''s been pretty calm listening to me talk about killing her. I sense some of her unease, but I almost expected her to run or attack me at the first provocation. If she is against us then that would be far scarier than a monster simply lashing out." "Manger," Piper started to say but he raised a hand to cut her off. "You, mage. Answer me truthfully, does she have a monster nexus?" Luna hesitated then shook her head. "Don''t just shake your head like an idiot, does she or doesn''t she?" the draco spat. "Luna can''t speak, she''s mute," I told him. The draco looked at me incredulously before turning to Maxwell. "Is that true? A mute mage?" "Yes, she has a neck wound that didn''t heal properly. She''s been mute for a little over two years now," he replied. He sighed and leaned back in his chair again. "You all have got to be the weirdest group I''ve ever come across... Well, the monster seems civilized but I do have concerns... Tell me how you got here umber hound, we''ve already moved past the lie that you grew up with these three," he said waving at my group. "I... can try. I am not skilled in your language yet," I admitted. "She didn''t know draconic when we met her, we mostly used this book she found in the dungeon to teach her," Piper said before slapping the heavily dog-eared book on the desk in front of the draco. He flipped through the first few pages with interest before making eye contact with Piper. "You found this in the dungeon?" "Helena did," she said gesturing at me with her head. "She pulled a chest out of the lake on the sixteenth floor." "The lake near the goblins?" he clarified and Piper nodded in response. "You taught her how to speak from scratch using a book? Now that sounds like the tallest tale so far," he said dismissively. "Well, the rings helped," I admitted while running a finger over the ring on my finger. "Ah... telepathy rings. That would help, yes." He let out a sigh. "Fine. Just do your best, I still want to hear where you claim to have come from. Even if you somehow snuck into the dungeon, I''d like to hear the story." I reached to scratch my head and I saw his muscles tense as my hand moved closer to the axe still slung over my back. I slowly returned my hand to my side and he relaxed just as quickly. I took a breath and started my story, sometimes stopping for help from my friends when I struggled to find the right words. I was honest about coming from another world but I did my best to be light on the details of my ability to transform and when my powers first manifested. My ability to shift into a wolf and take a lot of punishment was still the ace in my sleeve if things devolved into a fight. There was also the thing I did when shifting into a frost salamander... but I probably shouldn''t risk that again until I can practice with that ability. He quietly listened until I got to the part where I first encountered my friends and saved them from the goblins. He held up a hand cutting me off. "That''s enough..." He tapped his fingers on the table a bit before nodding. "You say that you come from a world of only humans?" I hesitantly nodded. "At the start of the story you talked about falling through the ground. I''ve heard of that before, spatial magic. Very rare, it can do all sorts of odd things. I don''t know why an umber hound of all things would be able to use spatial magic, but there have been countless reports in the last few months of our dungeon doing weird shit even before you came back saying the lost halls are broken now. Bosses where they shouldn''t be, often much stronger than normal, and with odd powers that are atypical of the monster. Just the other day, I got a report of a large bird monster on the twelfth floor. A bird on the crystal floor using fire magic, how strange is that?" The image of a phoenix came to mind. "So," James continued, "that''s why I believe you. It''s patently obvious that you''re still hiding things from me, but it feels like it''s in the scope of typical hunters trying to keep their strength under wraps." He focused back on me, "Keep the blindfold on in the city. If you go somewhere else, it''s not my problem. But if I hear a story of a human looking monster with umber hound eyes killing people, I''ll hunt you down myself. Clear?" "Yes, sir. I understand," I replied. "Good. You''re built like a fucking hulk, carrying that minotaur axe on your back as if it were a fucking branch. I don''t want you to mess up my office and you seem respectful and well enough mannered. Don''t make me regret this woman." I nodded. "Put your blindfold back on and have one of your friends fill out this form. The answers don''t matter, I''m going to keep an eye on you and send word to a few other branch managers regardless. Don''t write down anything about your eyes, keep that unofficial between us. Again, don''t take the blindfold off in town, you''ll scare the piss out of anyone that''s ever seen an umber hound. I''ll put a note saying that you''re roughly the same strength as Maxwell, that''ll make the caravan escort you''re looking for easier." He marked the paper with a wooden stamp and handed it to Piper when she motioned to accept it from him. "Give it to reception when you''re done. You''re dismissed," he said with a wave. All of us shuffled out of his office and I let out a sigh of relief. That could have gone a lot worse. "Umber hound eyes creep me the fuck out." I heard him say to himself through the door. Chapter 75

<~> Chapter 75 I spent some time filling out the form with everyone''s help. They told me to put myself down as a heavy skirmisher with scouting capabilities. Maxwell classified himself as a defender, Piper classified herself as a healer and skirmisher, Aria a scout and archer, and Luna was a mage with a heavy damage and area magic specialty. I had been a bit surprised there was this much thought that had gone into how they classified themselves but I suppose, realistically, it made sense. If they would be sharing information about themselves with employers, getting a good idea of how everyone fought would be ideal. "Having Helena and Aria on our team will make it a lot easier to get jobs," Piper said happily. Maxwell nodded. "It was always a challenge to take jobs that wanted more than three people and while our party had the bare minimum to function well, a lot of people didn''t trust our damage output to just Luna." "What exactly is a skirmisher anyway?" I asked. "A frontline fighter, someone who can take a lot of punishment and keep going," Piper replied. "They''re also more geared toward doing damage than protecting others like Maxwell does. The two of you joining us means that our group composition is now one dedicated defender, two melee fighters with me doubling as a healer, an archer, and a mage. We also have two different people good at scouting. We don''t just have a well-rounded party, we have a stronger than usual one." "Will wearing a blindfold make it harder for us to find work?" I asked. Maxwell shrugged. "Probably not. As long as you don''t bump into things you won''t seem very blind. People are also accustomed to strange magic-imbued items from the dungeon doing odd things. A blindfold that replaces your sight with a different kind isn''t that farfetched of an idea in general." I glanced over at Luna who had been quiet for a while. I think this is what she meant by people forgetting to include her in conversations. Since she could only talk to one person at a time through the rings, it made group conversations like this much more difficult for her to participate in unless one of us ask for her opinion directly. I nudged her. ("Hey Luna, if you want to say anything I''m all ears.") She smiled and looked at the top of my head. ("I''d say that I''m more ears than you are.") I laughed. ("True. Any thoughts on all of this? Our team composition or anything?") Her smile wavered. ("The unspoken thing in this conversation is that I was holding back a lot of our ability to get work and find other teammates. Just one damage focused teammate, a mute mage that doesn''t even have silent casting doesn''t give people a lot of confidence that we can handle ourselves. Aria alone would help us find work more easily but a skirmisher like you will make us look much stronger on paper. I would be thrilled to have you join us, even if I didn''t love you as much as I do.") My heart skipped a beat. Love? She was serious, she didn''t even realize she said it that way... Man, I knew she was serious about us but... wow. If I had a tail right now I don''t think I''d be able to stop it from wagging. Luna tilted her head. ("Helena?") I cleared my throat. ("I''m glad that I ran into you that night as well. You and everyone else really saved me. I''m not sure I would have made it up here... or even known where to go if I hadn''t run into all of you.") She smiled and patted me on the leg. Piper looked up from the form she had finished filling out. "Looks like we''re about ready to move on to the next place." "We should see about getting that pelt fashioned into armor before anything else. It could end up being expensive," Maxwell said. "I also kept one of the frost salamander glands, we should get Luna something made to empower her water magic in places where fire won''t cut it. That will be a cheaper way to make you more versatile since we can''t afford a silent casting tutor yet," he finished looking at Luna. She smiled a bit and nodded. I nudged her again and she looked over to me surprised. ("Oh, yes. Something like that would be nice. I''ll have to practice with water magic more though.") I repeated her words as closely as I could out loud for everyone''s benefit. It made me kind of happy that I could repay her the favor for all the translating she did for me. Maxwell nodded. "There''s still snow on the ground, there should be plenty of opportunity to practice during the caravan trip." ("Why would snow matter for that?") I asked Luna. ("Water and ice magic are easier to cast with direct sources. You don''t need to do the step that creates the water if you have some available. It''ll make it easier to focus on getting better at the other parts of the spells when casting,") she explained.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I indicated the hunk of crystal tied to my belt. "I also like to visit a jeweler or something, I want to make some of the crystals into something to remember the good parts of our dungeon trip." Piper nodded. "That will give us the opportunity to see what that particular form of crystal is good for. If we''re lucky it can be made into something strong." "I''d be happy with something pretty even if it isn''t useful for anything. Like I said when I gathered it, I just liked it for how it looked. Having a chunk on my belt also makes it easier to see with the blindfold as well," I said with a shrug. Piper went up to the reception to turn in the form and get me officially signed up and registered with their group. The association kept a directory of groups for people to hire and they would act as a middleman if needed for common jobs like caravan escorting or harvesting particular dungeon materials. We could also work directly with people if we wanted to, which was more common for independents like us, but those jobs could be difficult to find. Larger companies were set up and worked directly with the hunter''s association to provide larger-scale expeditions both inside and outside of dungeons. A lot went on here but the part that was most relevant to me was that I had to pay fees and/or taxes anytime I took a job through the hunter''s association or delved into one of their dungeons. It was still possible to come across uncharted dungeons, but those were considered much more dangerous for obvious reasons. We were finally finished up with the association business and could move on to checking out how much it would cost to get myself some better armor. The light armor I had been using had served me well but I would need something better if I couldn''t use my werewolf form in front of others. Having strong armor would make my human form a bit safer, but I still wasn''t sure how well my regeneration affected it yet. It healed me up in the aftermath of the fight with the umber hound but I haven''t been hurt in my human form since and my wounds didn''t seem to carry over from my werewolf one. Piper led us to a portion of town set aside for craftsmen. There were enough materials coming out of the dungeon to keep many different weapon and armor smiths in business. You could tell from the sounds of metalworking and woodworking going on in this part of town that they had no shortage of customers. ("How large is this town compared to Ironcastle?") I asked Luna. ("It''s small compared to Ironcastle but that''s honestly not a fair comparison. Ironcastle was already a large settlement before the dungeon was discovered there. It''s named for the iron mines in the mountains the city was built into. The city was first founded as a mining town but the inner part of the city was built into a fortress during the Corbex-Tatianna war. Ironcastle was in a strategic position at the edge of Tatianna''s territory and was a rich source of iron. The iron veins haven''t dried up there yet but the city''s focus shifted a little when the dungeon was discovered inside the mountain. From what I have heard, the city had already been growing before that but the dungeon exploded the city''s expansion and now the city extends much farther out than the edges of the Trimfall fortress.") ("Why the name Ironcastle?") I said flatly. Luna giggled. ("It is a dumb name. The city had originally been called Trimfall, hence Trimfall Fortress, but after almost one hundred years of everyone but them calling the city Ironcastle, they officially changed it. The city has gotten so large that it was easier to call the entire city Ironcastle and reserve the name Trimfall for the district immediately around and inside the fortress. Tatianna, the silver dragon, had a dragon child and that child''s family has become the royal family in the city-state since. That district is reserved for members of their family and their servants, as well as some of the original founders of the mining town.") I frowned. ("I feel like it''s going to take a while for me to get used to the history of this world.") ("Are you interested in history?") she asked. ("A little maybe... but the bigger problem is that I lack a lot of context for historical events, I don''t even know how long ago the Corbex-Tatianna war was. That''s just one example of a major historical event that I haven''t even heard of and I can only imagine there are similar events that have been really influential on the region we''re in that I should know about.") Luna shrugged in response. ("Maybe, maybe not. I would say that most people don''t know much about history. I know a bit more about Ironcastle than some other places since it was close to where we grew up, but the biggest reason I know any history is because I grew up in a manor with a well-stocked library. Most people don''t have the opportunity to learn much about history, they''re too busy learning whatever trade they need to survive. You don''t seem to realize that you''re far more educated than most people in this city and I would say a majority of Ironcastle as well. The fact that you see the value of knowing history at all is a testament to that, many people in this city can''t even read.") ("I can''t either,") I replied. She pinched my arm. ("They can''t read any language. You speak two and can read and write in your own language. It''ll take time, but I don''t think it will be hard to teach you to read draconic too. Oh, we''re here!") Piper waved us over to an armor smith shop tucked away just off of the main street. At a glance, the shiny armor on stands in the front drew my attention but Luna pulled me away from them before I could even get a closer look. ("The ones they put in the front look fancier but aren''t as practical. We''re here to get something commissioned anyway, don''t make yourself look like an easy mark,") Luna teased. We stepped inside and the shelves were so packed with armor of various shapes and sizes that the room was difficult for me to walk in. I looked around at the different armor pieces stacked nearly from the floor to the ceiling, it made me intimidated just looking at it all. The armors were made from all sorts of different materials, metals, leathers, pelts, animal scales, and combinations of all four and more. It was reassuring that we were coming in to have something custom-made because I wouldn''t know where to even begin looking for something. "Why are there so many different kinds?" I mumbled mostly to myself. Aria held up a metal gauntlet and pointed at a little stamp marked into the metal. "Most of this stuff is made by apprentices. You can get a good deal if you know what you''re looking for and the apprentice is skilled, but you could also buy something that''s junk if you don''t know better." She flipped the gauntlet over and pointed at a strap. "I can tell by looking at this one that this strap would dig into your arm if you wore it. That would be fine for a draco or a drakken because of their thicker skin, but humans and beastkin probably wouldn''t be able to use something like this at all, it would be too uncomfortable." "Helena, come over here for a moment. The master smith needs to talk with us," Maxwell called out. Aria set the gauntlet back on the counter and the two of us wiggled our way through the shelves and over to the desk. Chapter 76

<~> Chapter 76 "So, Maximus, what materials do you think are worth dropping what I''m doing for you?" The short drakken asked. The five of us were standing next to a table that was low enough to the ground to accommodate the drakken smith''s height. Even though all of us towered over the older lizard guy, he didn''t seem fazed by it at all. One of his human apprentices led us to the back of the shop to meet with him and hung around watching the conversation. "Lokk''at, My name is Maxwell, not Maximus," he corrected. "Eh, whatever. I have lots of customers, hard to keep human names straight. What do you have for me?" he grumpily replied. Maxwell slipped his pack off his shoulder and pulled out the umber hound pelt wrapped around all of the bones and set them on the table. The smith''s interest was instantly piqued and he was spreading it out and inspecting it. "We found this on the sixteenth floor. Helena over here killed it herself and she could use some better armor," Maxwell said while gesturing to me. The smith''s brow ridge furrowed. "The sixteenth floor? I know that is pretty deep for our dungeon, but there should only be goblins and a few other critters on that floor. How did an umber hound find its way there? Was it weaker than normal?" His final question was addressed to me. "I don''t know. I have nothing to..." I struggled to find the word I was looking for. "She''s never seen one before. She doesn''t know how strong it is," Piper said, finishing the thought for me. "Strange," the smith said while continuing to examine the fur. "This pelt looks like an animal got to it before you skinned it, but it died of this knife wound here I think." His clawed fingers were holding up a rough edge along the pelt. "We think the umber wolf may have had spatial magic too," Maxwell added, not acknowledging his observation. Lokk''at looked up from the pelt to look at Maxwell directly. "You''re lying." "Not if her story is true," Piper said nodding at me. "Okay, you''re lying then," he said dryly. I shrugged. "I don''t know what happened. The person at the hunter''s association told me it may have used spatial magic, that''s all I know." "What kind of armor do you want?" the drakken said switching gears. "Uhh..." I paused. Lokk''at sighed. "Do you want something similar to what you''re already wearing, do you want something like Maximus, or do you want something else?" he asked with an annoyed tone. "It''s Maxwell... Can you make her something that can quickly adjust its shape to fit the user?" Maxwell asked the drakken. "That sort of thing is possible?" I asked suddenly very curious. The smith grimaced. "Is it possible? Yes. Can I do it? No. You would need someone more skilled than I am in enchantment for that. My enchantment is okay, but it''s not that advanced. You''re more likely to find something like that in Ironcastle." "Should we wait on the armor then?" I asked my friends. "Hold on, hold on," he said trying to cut off that line of thinking. "Even if I can''t do that, I can make something that would be compatible with that sort of enchantment later on after you find a better enchanter. I would still bet my skill in armorcraft is better than most of the hacks in Ironcastle... at least the ones you could afford anyway. I charge much less for my work here since I can make it up in volume. Charging less is worth it if I can get the opportunity to work with exotic materials. I''d be willing to give you a discount if I can have some of the leftover pelt when I''m finished." "What''s to stop you from being stingy with the material you use when making the armor?" Aria asked. The suspicious tone to her voice was clear to everyone. Lokk''at glared at Aria. "Nothing but my honor. Maximus and I have known each other for a while, I wouldn''t cross him like that. It''s bad for business." "My name is Maxwell." "Bah, whatever," the drakken waved away. "A majority of the material will be used in the armor, you have my word. The parts I would be collecting are mostly cuttings and possibly some of the end bits that wouldn''t get used anyway. Plenty enough for me to power enchantments in other gear, but not enough to be useful in the armor I would be creating for you. I also won''t need all of the bones, you can keep those after." "How much?" I asked. Lokk''at looked over the pelt again. "After the remnant pieces... eight tigers. Firm. That''s what I can offer you." I froze, caught off guard by the number. That would be most of the money I made from the dungeon. I looked at Luna, looking for help. Luna noticed my gaze and smiled. ("I''d say it''s worth it. There will be more opportunities to make money and strong armor that could be improved through enchantment later would be a good investment. It may even save your life, we''re not sure how well your regeneration might fare if you got stabbed through the head or the heart. Armor and weapons are usually a delver''s largest expense and your weapon is good enough to not need a replacement anytime soon. Eight tigers is a lot of money but once we don''t need to siphon so much toward the debt, all of us will have a lot more spending power.") I sighed. "Fine. Eight tigers for the armor then." The drakken smiled a large toothy grin with his lizard-like face. "We don''t have much time before we need to leave town though," Maxwell added. Lokk''at squinted at him. "A rush job? Really? With an umber hound pelt of all things?... Bah, I''d normally charge you extra for that but truthfully, I was already planning on doing this tonight."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Uh, Sir? There''s that priority order for the merchant..." the nearby apprentice suddenly interjected. The drakken sneered. "I hate that guy though, he can wait another day." He turned back to us. "What style do you want? You never said. Your armor suggests you''re a scout but she has the bow and you have the Axe, so it must be a hand me down or something." "Oh, I found this in the dungeon." I suddenly felt a little embarrassed by my armor. "And uh, I guess something similar to Maxwell? Oh, but something that won''t restrict my legs too much." "She''s more of a skirmisher than a defender," Maxwell helpfully added. "Hmm, protective and heavy but not too restrictive. You look like you''re muscular enough to handle that. If you''re a skirmisher you''ll want a repair enchantment. I can do that without taking too much load away from other enchantments," he said. Luna worked extra hard to fill in the blanks for me as I tried to keep up with what he was talking about. "Will that be extra?" I asked after I caught up. "No, that''s normal for a custom fit armor. It''s included. Any issue with armored skirts?" he asked. "I''d prefer not, I feel like it might get in the way if I''m running," I replied. He looked down at the pelt in thought. "I think I can come up with something. Come back tomorrow around sundown. I''ll be done by then. I have to take this to a tanner to get this cleaned up and flash processed." Another sentence that Luna had to walk me through. I''m getting better at picking things up myself but this guy doesn''t even give me a chance. "Deal, when should I pay?" I asked. "After," he said with a nod. "If you don''t come back for the armor, I''m keeping it. Don''t ask me to do it as a rush order and then disappear on me. I don''t take deposits when the materials are this rare," he added. "Take her measurements," he said to the apprentice. "Yes, Sir." He came over with a roll of twine and started marking measurements down with chalk in a shorthand I couldn''t identify. The smith was so absorbed with the pelt now that he basically ignored us for the rest of our time there and the apprentice led us out of the back room once he was finished. "So, a jewelry shop now?" I asked. Piper nodded. "I know a place that should be good for having custom jewelry made and would know how to identify those crystals. They should also be able to make something with that frost salamander gland for Luna." We spent some time walking through the beautiful city to the jewelry shop on the other side of town. It was in the afternoon now and the canal was reflecting the light of the western sun across the buildings, giving everything a warm afternoon glow. The air smelled so fresh and clear here, but it was a bit thinner from the higher elevation compared to what I was used to. "This is the place," Piper said indicating a shop with a fresco of gemstones on the outside of the building. "Looks expensive," Maxwell commented as we approached the door. "Quality is expensive," Piper replied with a shrug. The shop we entered had a few other people in it but what immediately got my attention was the cases all around the room full of beautiful looking jewelry of all different colors. Some of the jewelry in the cases were literally glowing. As we walked through the room, the jewelry glowed with more mana as we reached the back wall. I turned to the side when I heard a gasp from a short red-scaled drakken woman who was looking right at the hunk of crystal tied to my waist. "Is that corscant crystal?" she asked aloud. I glanced at Luna who tried to translate it, but the word didn''t have any different meaning to me using the rings, it sounded the same. "Yes, I wanted to see about making some jewelry from it and having this crystal identified," I told her. "Great! Follow me! No wait, go stand over there! I need to go get someone from the back!" She pointed to a counter off in a corner away from the display cases before running off. "Have you heard of corscant crystal?" Piper asked us. Everyone shook their heads with me. We waited for a while and an older drakken returned with the drakken woman that greeted us. In the meantime, I had unhooked the large chunk of crystal that I had been using as a lantern and set it on the table along with the four shards larger than my palm and the six fingernail-sized pieces. The drakken man''s eyes lit up when he reached the table and looked over the crystals. "My name is Angela, and this drakken here is a master jewelry smith, and also my uncle, named Trevor. He has a lot of knowledge on what kinds of things can be made from these crystals," Angela, the female drakken, said. "Who taught you to harvest corscant crystal like this? I haven''t seen purity like this in a long time," the older drakken commented, skipping any formalities. I glanced at Maxwell who just shrugged in reply. Since he was no help I just answered honestly. "No one taught me how to harvest it. I just collected the parts of the crystal that looked the most saturated with magic." "May I touch them?" he asked. I nodded. "Sure. What is corscant crystal used for? I originally just collected it because I thought it was beautiful and I wanted a souvenir from the dungeon." ("Helena, you probably shouldn''t admit that you have no idea what the crystal we''re looking at is worth,") Luna told me through the rings. ("No matter where we go, we''d have to tell someone the truth. Besides, I don''t intend to sell it anyway. I want something made from it,") I replied. What he replied with was so filled with jargon I didn''t understand any of it. I had Luna translate word for word for me. ("Corscant crystal is used to amplify magic resonance. Essentially, it functions as a strong magic focuser for spellcasters and it can be used to create very powerful enchanted jewelry when combined with other magic infused gemstones. A chunk this large is almost unheard of, if it were fashioned into a staff or scepter it would make most casters nearly twice as powerful.") As Luna translated, her voice became more and more excited by the prospect. The older drakken noted the palm-sized crystals. ("These ones would make for good amulets, and the smallest ones would make for good rings or bracelets. The rings would be better paired with other gemstones to amplify the effects of enchantments but the amulet-sized ones would be best as general amplifiers for spellcasters as well. Though the effects would not work well if they were also using this large chunk as a staff,") he said gesturing to various crystals. "Would these be suitable crystals to take mana store or mana regeneration enchantments?" Piper asked. "Suitable?" The question made the drakken laugh. "When paired with altotite, corscant crystal make the best mana store and regeneration rings." Both Piper and Luna looked like they were about to faint from the news of how valuable this find was for us. Chapter 77

<~> Chapter 77 Luna looked appraisingly over the chunks of crystal set on the table in front of us. ("Helena? What do you want to do? It sounds like these are a lot more useful than we thought they might be.") "How useful would these amulets be for you two?" I asked Piper. Piper looked a little guilty. "Extremely useful... If the mana regeneration is strong enough it could mean that I could use the rings freely. If it''s even stronger than that, I could even use my healing magic more liberally than I do now." "Rings?" The female drakken from earlier asked. Piper paused before pulling her telepathy ring off and placing it on the counter for the drakken to examine. "They''re a set of four linked telepathy rings." The crafter pulled out a jeweler''s loop and examined the plain ring on the table. "Fine craftsmanship... but there''s five of you?" she finished the statement as a question. Piper picked the ring up and put it back on her finger, the ring resized itself to fit her as soon as she slipped it on. "We only had four before we met these two." She looked across us before picking out the only one of us not wearing one of the rings. "If your catkin friend over there likes, one of these smaller ones could be fashioned into a ring that could be connected to them. It could even be powered further by the stone to speak with all of the rings at once." Luna perked up at the news. Being able to talk with only one of us at a time was a major drawback for her. Piper frowned. "Why the sudden offer?" The drakken grinned but shied back, looking guilty as well. She pointed at one of the amulet-sized pieces. "This crystal would be very valuable to me... I would be willing to pay our smiths to work on all of these pieces into fine jewelry for you, in exchange for it." Maxwell stepped back in shock. "It''s worth that much?" "Well..." she scratched her face scales for a moment. "Not exactly. Crystals of this purity are very rare. They could be worth that much if you went through the trouble to auction them, because few people actually sell them when they come across a find like this. They''re too useful for mages to give up that easily. I''ve been trying to get a hold of something less pure than this for a while now. It would be expensive to turn all of this into jewelry, but I could easily cover all of that work for you in exchange for one of these crystals. If what you want, which I suspect you do, is to have all of this turned into jewelry for your personal use, then it would be cheaper for me to get the work done for you in exchange for one of these crystals than it would be for me to buy a piece like this on the open market. It would be a good exchange for both of us." ("Being able to talk with all of you at once would help me a lot, especially if Maxwell could power his ring with the crystal...") I could tell that Luna was trying to hold back her eagerness, but this would make a huge difference for her. "I would like to take the trade," I admitted. "But there''s an issue. We need to be in Ironcastle very soon and I don''t know how long we can stay here waiting for the work to be finished." I looked at Maxwell. He hesitated. "We need to leave within the week. We can''t delay any more than that without repercussions. Tomorrow would be ideal." The drakken squinted at the stones on the table between us and started counting something on her fingers. After a moment she nodded. "I can have it done by tomorrow, but only if you agree right now. Some of the jewelry smiths owe me a favor." The smith that had been quietly standing there nodded. "It''s a good deal for both sides. I''m biased toward my niece of course, but I recommend that you take the deal," he said. "What about the other materials? Metal and the other stones you mentioned?" Piper asked. "Included, that''s not a problem," she said dismissively. I looked at the group and everyone seemed to nod in agreement. I took a breath and nodded. "Okay. We''ll do it. Let''s talk about what we''re going to make everything into." The drakken woman smiled with her sharp teeth. "Great! Uh, first thing though, none of us can do anything with that big chunk. You''re better off having it made into a staff somewhere else anyway." "Sure, that''s fine," I replied. She smiled. "Good, next these ones, like I said before, they''d make great amplification amulets, but if you''re interested in regeneration, one of these would be good for that too." I looked the palm-sized stones over. "One for regeneration and two for amplification? Can two be used at once?" I asked. She shook her head. "No. They don''t play nice together if you try to use them both at once. You could switch between them but if you were to do that, I would make one into an amplification amulet, and the other into something like a bracer to keep them separate." I looked at everyone. "Would anyone be opposed to Piper getting one of each? From what I could tell regeneration was an issue for her but amplification would give her better healing." It looked like everyone agreed but I chose to ask Luna through the rings for a more direct answer. ("Luna, what do you think?") ("I don''t need the regeneration as much and I would be receiving the other amplification amulet right? I don''t have any issue with that provided I receive the ring that would allow me to talk with everyone.") The comment at the end had her tail swinging back and forth behind her. I nodded. "Okay. One of these for you, Angela, two amplification amulets, and a regeneration bracer?" I got nods in return and so I moved on to the six smaller crystals. "A ring that can connect to all the other telepathy rings at once. Could one of them be used for improving water magic with the frost salamander gland we have?" I asked. The older smith nodded. "A frost salamander could be paired with a gem and this crystal to make a strong water magic focus." "Good," I continued pointing at the remaining ones. "One of these should be turned into a mana store ring for Maxwell so that he can use the other ring more freely." I looked up at Aria. "Is there anything that would be helpful for you?"This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Aria looked surprised and caught off guard. "Me?" I nodded. "Sure, all of us are friends now. I''d like to give everyone at least one ring." She hesitated. "Something for stealth then?" The older smith looked at the bow she carried on her back. "I can make something that can both mute footsteps and deepen shadows near you. It is useful for an archer that wants to take shots while hidden and relocate silently after." Aria smiled. "That would be useful to me, both as an archer and as a scout." "That leaves two," I said looking at the remaining fingernail-sized crystal shards. "I''m not sure what would be useful for me... something to hide my eyes?" The smith paused, lost in thought for a moment before shaking his head. "I cannot think of anything that would hide your eyes that could be made from this. Is there something wrong with them that could be addressed?" he said while studying my blindfold. I hesitated. "Maybe that''s not the best way to go..." The female drakken looked at the large axe slung over my back. "Perhaps a spatial ring? They are normally expensive to craft but using corscant crystal, we can make some of the more affordable spatial materials go a lot farther. You would be able to carry at least your axe and the contents of your backpack." My eyebrows rose. "Something like Maxwell''s backpack?" Maxwell gave me a flat look. "Please don''t tell people about the valuable things we carry. But yes, a ring that would do the equivalent of my backpack." I frowned. "How would I stuff things in a ring though?" The younger drakken tittered. "It converts things to mana to store them. You wouldn''t need to ''stuff'' anything into it the way you would a spatial backpack. Rings usually carry less space than an actual container does, but they have the benefit of being small and discreet. Most people wouldn''t be able to detect one without proper safeguards. I do not suggest trying to smuggle things out of the dungeon though, that''s a way to quickly get on the association''s bad side. I''m officially telling you that you should inform the hunter''s association that you possess one. But that''s up to you." I could see the benefit of a ring like that. At the very least I wouldn''t need to lug this dumb axe around everywhere. I also wouldn''t need to drop it constantly if I wanted to fight with my claws in situations where I need the ease and speed of them. "Let''s do that then. It would make things a lot easier on me if I could switch between weapons easier." "Great, and the last one?" she asked. "Well the only one that doesn''t have a ring set aside yet is Piper..." I said. "Helena, you''re already giving me an incredibly valuable amulet and a bracer. I''m already hesitating to accept both. Perhaps another ring for your fianc¨¦?" I blushed and glanced at Luna who looked back at me bashfully. The drakken tittered again and sized Luna up. "From the sash, I can guess that she''s a fire mage who''s getting a water magic ring as an amplifier. Any weaknesses to speak of?" Luna hesitated before nodding to me. Getting the point, I answered for her. "She''s functionally mute, maybe something that could give the effect of silent casting?" The younger drakken scratched her jaw before looking over at the older smith. He crossed his arms and looked down in thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I cannot think of anything that would have that effect. But if what you lack is casting magic quickly enough without chanting, perhaps a ring that could help with that instead?" "A ring that can increase the speed of casting?" Piper asked. He nodded. "Yes, it''s not a common thing because most people wouldn''t benefit from it much unless they regularly cast large spells that require channeling. But, if you cannot chant, it would also help with casting smaller spells as well." "Isn''t channeling large spells Luna''s specialty?" I asked Piper. She nodded. "She loses less efficiency that way so she mainly casts channeled spells. A ring like that would help her normal casting style and cover her weakness." ("Yes! That sounds great!") Luna excitedly said while patting my arm. I laughed. "That sounds perfect then. Let''s do that. Will that ring cause issues with the water one or the telepathy one?" The younger drakken shook her head. "No, the corscant crystal would only be amplifying other stones, the problem is that the ones we talked about both use altotite, not that both use corscant crystal." "That sounds perfect then." I glanced at the large chunk. "Hey, this might be a weird question but... rather than making this large chunk into a staff or scepter, could it be made into a lantern that gave the same mana regeneration effect?" "A lantern?" the female drakken said in confusion. I nodded and tapped my blindfold. "This lets me see magic. The thing that originally attracted me to this crystal was that it lights things up to the vision I gain with this blindfold. Rather than using it as an amplification weapon, couldn''t it be used as a strong mana regeneration field centered on a lantern made with this crystal?" She tapped her lip with her clawed finger before turning to the older smith. "What do you think?" "I think it could be done. I can attempt something if you would trust me with such a large piece of crystal. But that wouldn''t be part of the deal, I can still have it done at the same time, but I''ll have to charge something for my time and the additional materials." "If they both use Altotite, would the regeneration field it emits conflict with the amulet for Piper?" I asked. He shook his head. "I would have to use something other than altotite for it, so no. But I have a good candidate, it is better for larger area effects but it is weaker than altotite for individual effects. It would also likely make the lantern glow purple. Would that be an issue?" I smiled. "That sounds rather cool actually." Chapter 78

<~> Chapter 78 Since I spent a lot of the money I gained on armor at the other place, the eight gold tigers the jewelry smith asked for would have cost more than I had left. Fortunately, Piper, Luna, and Maxwell all said they would chip in two gold tigers each and we would pay the eight tigers together, leaving me with six of the gold coins afterward. Eight tigers was pretty steep for that project, the same price as the armor I was getting. That put into perspective how valuable the chunk of corscant crystal we were going to trade all of those other pieces of jewelry for was. I kept the last crystal as well, as the payment for the lantern, and would give her both once she had the other pieces finished tomorrow. I felt a bit guilty that the three of them had volunteered so much money to help me buy the lantern. "Are you guys sure that was worth it?" I asked. Piper laughed. "Without a doubt. A mana regeneration field will be useful for all of us. Well... maybe not for Maxwell and Aria directly, but the increased regeneration will give me more healing, which will help them too. If it overlaps well enough with the bracer I''m getting, it might even let me take a more active role in fights more often." Luna grabbed my arm as her tail swished back and forth behind her happily. ("None of us would have gotten anything from this place if it wasn''t for you. Chipping in for the lantern is a small price to pay. Besides, you just got out of the dungeon. It would be a shame if you blew all of your money already.") "I wish I could have chipped in too, but I didn''t come out of the dungeon with as much money as you guys. I''ll make it up to you somewhere though! I''m really grateful for everything you''ve done for me," Aria said. I sighed. "We still need to spend money on the caravan to Ironcastle, right? How much will that cost?" Maxwell turned to me in confusion. "What do you mean? We''ll be getting paid for that, I signed us up as caravan guards. We''re just waiting for placement." "Oh..." I chuckled. "I suppose I thought we''d be paying for a ride." "You probably don''t have much to compare us to, but all of us are strong Helena," Piper said. "Even if our group is a little odd by most standards, all of us are powerful enough to protect a well-traveled road. People would be more dubious if we were joining an expedition into the wilderness maybe, but anyone that could bring back the spoils we did from the seventeenth floor of the Fallow dungeon can handle a few animals and monsters that we might come across protecting a caravan." "What kinds of things could we face?" I asked. "The most difficult things that are possible to come across on the road to Ironcastle are likely bears. It''s winter so not many of them should be active, but some of them are really dangerous for .... people," Maxwell told me. I turned to Luna who quickly explained the word I missed. ("Unempowered. People who fight monsters and delve dungeons are considered ''empowered'' relative to most ''unempowered'' people. All of us have grown stronger by facing monsters and strengthening our mana.") "Sure, bears were deadly in my... homeland too," I replied to Maxwell. "What about... people? Do we need to worry about dangerous... people?" I didn''t have a word for bandits or highwaymen. Maxwell shrugged. "There haven''t been any recent wars in this region so the chance of running into brigands is low. We''re more likely to run into monsters than brigands. And even monsters are unlikely." "Unless whatever has happened to the dungeon is happening up here too," Piper added. Maxwell looked meaningfully at Piper before looking around at the few people nearby and lowering his voice. "Best not talk about the dungeon out in the open. Not sure how poorly the ban on independents has gone over, so I''d prefer not to be blamed for it if people are angry." "Sure," Piper said with a shrug. "So what now?" I asked. "Is there anything else we need to buy for the trip?" "Tents," Piper said immediately. "It will be more important for all of us to have our own tents for this trip. We found some decent camping supplies for the two of you in that last chest, which will save us some trouble, but tents will give you privacy on the road." I couldn''t transform openly right now, so sleeping outside while transformed was a terrible idea. I would just have to get used to sleeping in a tent now, I guess. I glanced at my girlfriend. "What if I just shared a tent with Luna?" Luna giggled but Piper shook her head. "Maybe if you were already married, but that would be inappropriate to do in public even if you were fully committed fianc¨¦s." The reproachful tone at the end made me feel a bit uncomfortable but... I suppose I couldn''t really argue. "So... Does that mean no one ever shares a tent?" I asked... perhaps a bit petulantly. Piper rolled her eyes. "Men and women usually don''t comingle but it''s a bit more complicated for paired women or paired men. If you''re openly courting, like the two of you clearly are, then it''s frowned upon to be public about it. It makes the dominant look impatient and makes the submissive look slutty." Luna helped me out with the final word there as her cheeks colored red. My hackles raised. "Dominant? Submissive? What are you talking about?" Piper immediately froze and turned to me with a look of confusion... one that I noticed that everyone else shared... including Luna. Her mouth opened and closed before she turned to Luna in a telltale sign of them talking through the rings. I felt a bit impatient and lost, Maxwell and Aria looked incredibly awkward, and Luna looked flustered. I didn''t have to wait long before Piper groaned in frustration. "What do you mean you didn''t have that conversation? The two of you are getting engaged, you have to talk about this stuff, you can''t just assume she was taking the dominant role, she clearly doesn''t even know what we''re talking about." Luna turned away with her ears back. Maxwell cleared his throat and cut into the conversation. "Perhaps we should talk about this in private? We should at least not be talking about this in the middle of the road." "Uh... Do I need to be included in this at all?" Aria asked. "This seems like it''s between you two... or three. Is there anything else we need to prepare before we leave?"Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Piper rubbed her face. "You two can go, let''s just meet back up at the bar in the inn later." The two gave mumbles of agreement before slinking off. Piper let out a sigh. "Okay, we''re going back to the inn first. We need to talk about this somewhere a bit quieter." Luna gave me a lingering glance before nodding and following behind Piper. I... wanted to say something to Luna through the rings but the atmosphere felt a bit strained right now. I decided to just quietly walk through town with them. The other two must have gone somewhere else first because I didn''t see either of them when we walked through the bar and headed up to our rooms. For now, Piper joined us in the room we were sharing. "Why can the two of us share a room but we can''t share a tent?" I asked when we came in. Piper turned to me with a deadpan look on her face. "Because this place is private, no one would know if you did anything in here." "Sure but they would know if we didn''t do anything in the tent," I replied. Piper pinched the bridge of her nose. "It''s different..." "I don''t see how." Luna took my hand. ("Please don''t fight. Piper isn''t trying to upset you, she''s just trying to help... I didn''t realize there was a question of which one of us was dominant... We should have talked about it.") I sat on the bed and pulled off my blindfold so that I could actually look at them with my real eyes. "Why are we talking about a ''dominant'' at all? Why can''t we just be equals? This is just weird." The two of them looked at each other in confusion. Piper was the first one to reply. "In a paired couple, you have to decide who will take the role of the husband, and who will take the role of the wife. Both have different expectations and duties to perform, there would be confusion for both the couple and anyone interacting with them if that wasn''t decided." I was getting irritated with this conversation quickly. "Why do we need predefined roles? We could just split things up based on who is better at any given task. Why does one of us have to be a ''husband'' and one of us have to be a ''wife?'' Why couldn''t we both be wives or both be husbands?" Piper sighed and looked at Luna for help, who looked just as confused as she was. Luna pursed her lips and turned to face me fully. ("Helena, please calm down a little. I think there might be a misunderstanding here. Before we talk about this further, can I ask what is making you so angry? The two of us are genuinely confused.") I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose. "I''m upset because I don''t like the idea of either of us being forced into a subservient role toward the other. If I''m taking you as a wife, I want to take you as a partner, not as a submissive." Luna glanced at Piper who was cupping her chin in thought before she turned back to me. ("What if I want to be submissive to you?") I frowned. "I... don''t know if I want that kind of relationship. I want us to make decisions and plans together, I don''t want to be ''in charge'' of our relationship. It should be a partnership, where we can both be individuals, not a master and a slave." "Woah woah, let''s back up a little," Piper said interjecting. "That''s not what we''re talking about. Maybe the words for this are confusing. This isn''t about... controlling your wife. It''s about taking on the role of the husband. It''s a bit hard for me to explain, I''m not a beastkin." Luna reached over and touched my hand. I reluctantly held it. ("Helena, beastkin need... hierarchy. Not just in a mated pair but within larger groups of beastkin. And while there are some expectations that come with being the dominant of the pair, for us, what would be important is how we present to others. Being my dominant or my husband for the purposes of others does not mean you would have to make all of our decisions and... it doesn''t mean that I wouldn''t be free to leave you if I wasn''t happy. It would mean that your role would be to protect and maintain our social status, especially regarding beastkin, and I would be in charge of maintaining our home and protecting any children we may care for. Both of these are important.") I ran my fingers through my hair. "This just sounds so... rigid and... stifling..." Luna took a pained breath. ("Helena... I''m weak. At least in the ways I would need to be strong in a marriage like ours. I would never be able to have a solid social status among others, especially beastkin, without a partner I trusted. Our marriage will be tested to determine our social status, and among beastkin, that almost certainly means through physical combat. Even in human and dragon lands, there are traditions that require different things of the husband and wife. I... don''t really know what marriage means where you come from, but here, this is what marriage is. Choosing to be with each other and taking the roles to fit in and find a place within society. ...I want to be with you, I want you to be my husband, my dominant. That doesn''t mean I will be submissive in all things, especially decisions that affect both of us, it just means that you would take the role of the male when dealing with others. Though... they would probably imagine you to be... the one on top... in our bed.") The end of her sentence flustered her... and me as well if I''m being honest... as difficult as this conversation has been, that last part did have some appeal to it. I sighed and rubbed my face. "So... I wouldn''t really need to do anything different? This is just about how others treat us and interact with us?" ("No, nothing should change... I was already behaving as if you were my dominant... We talked about you fighting off other beastkin to prove you could protect me. And, it''s normally the dominant that makes the first move to establish the relationship. I had been waiting for you to claim me as your bride... and then you did,") Luna said sheepishly. ("I didn''t think to bring it up because I thought that''s already how you were behaving. I didn''t know there was any misunderstanding between us about this...") I took a deep breath before replying through the rings to make sure my words were clear to her. ("Fine. I''ll accept that this is a cultural difference that I don''t fully understand and accept my place as your... ''dominant.'' But that doesn''t change anything between us. We''re still partners and I won''t accept you deferring to me because of any hierarchy between us. Is that fair?") Luna smiled. ("That''s fair.") She scooted into my lap and pulled me into a kiss. When she broke it, she looked into my eyes. ("I think I understand you a bit better now... I''ll just have to get used to playing the role of dominant too... when appropriate.") She bit her lip as she looked up at me in a way that reminded me of the teasing fox she was when we took that bath together. I liked it when she got that look in her eye. "So... did you two work it out? It looks like you worked it out. What should I know? You two didn''t just swap positions did you?" Piper asked. Luna giggled and I rolled my eyes before replying. "No. It looks like I''m still the ''dominant'' in our relationship." "Good. Because no offense Luna, it would be weird if you were fighting off beastkin with more muscles than sense to protect your wife with more muscles than sense." That made Luna laugh so hard she started coughing and I couldn''t do anything but roll my eyes even harder. Chapter 79

<~> Chapter 79 After Piper had been reassured my relationship with Luna hadn''t just imploded, she decided to split off from us for the rest of the day. We had already purchased most of the big ticket things we needed to spend money on before leaving the city so other than a few odds and ends, we were free to spend some of the rest of it on whatever we wanted. We needed to save some money for food expenses and a stay at the inn in Ironcastle, but I could finally buy some things I had desperately wanted to get since walking out of that dungeon. New clothes. I''m not exactly the kind of person that cares a lot about clothes really. I like looking nice of course, but comfy jeans and t-shirts were always plenty good for me. But after wearing the same clothes for weeks, I was ready to have some new options. It also seemed like a good chance to spend some more one-on-one time with Luna. Now that our lives weren''t at risk in the dungeon constantly, I felt like I could let my guard down a little and relax with her in a way that I hadn''t been able to until now. I left my axe and armor in my room and only took my backpack with me so I could carry anything we bought. ("I''ll be honest, I don''t know a lot about clothes...") Luna warned me. ("Growing up, I just put on whatever I was told to. Ever since I left with Maxwell and Piper, the clothes I''ve been wearing are more for functionality and practicality than anything else...") ("That''s okay. I mostly just wore things that were comfy around the house and athletic wear when I was working out or training for the triathlon. I just want to get some things that I can dress in when I''m not wearing my armor, especially around town. I don''t have any changes of clothes other than the one set of clothes I got from the dungeon.") The set I was wearing now. I can''t even wash it, I don''t have anything to change into other than my armor. Luna nodded. ("Sure, we can pick some stuff up. I don''t have many spare sets of clothes myself. We''ll probably be wearing our equipment for long stretches again once we are on our way to Ironcastle but having some spare clothes will be nice... especially if they''re clean. Would you like to go to the bathhouse after we shop so that we can change into something while still fresh and clean?") The idea of being in a public bathhouse sounded even more embarrassing than being in one alone with Luna... But I would like a bath. I used to shower every day and I was unfortunately starting to get used to having slightly oily hair... ("Alright...") Luna giggled. ("If you like we can rent a private room. It doesn''t cost very much relative to the money we made in the dungeon. My treat.") ("Did you just read my mind?") I asked. Luna smiled and took my hand. ("I don''t have to, the hesitation was plain on your face.") ("Even with the blindfold covering half of it?") ("The blindfold isn''t a mask, I can still read your face. Like that little line you get on your eyebrows,") she said. I raised an eyebrow. ("I didn''t realize my poker face was so bad.") ("Poker face?") she asked curiously. ("Eh... it''s a style of card game that involves betting and bluffing. You have to hide your emotions when reading your cards to play effectively, thus, poker face,") I explained. Luna nodded. ("Hmm. I''ve never played any betting games before. Piper told me that confidence men use games of chance to steal your money.") I chuckled. ("I wouldn''t say that''s wrong. I wouldn''t play a game like that with anyone you don''t trust, but it can be fun with friends. Well, as long as you don''t have any hard feelings if you lose. Some people can''t handle losing very well, especially if money is involved.") ("I don''t think I would like playing games like that. I''d feel bad if I lost all my money. Oh! Let''s go in there.") She pointed to a shop with an intricately painted sign advertising the clothing inside. When she was distracted a young kid bumped into her and I could hear the kid cutting Luna''s coin purse free from her belt. The kid did it right in front of me as if I couldn''t see her. I put a hand on the kid''s shoulder and gripped it tight before they could sprint away. "Ow! Get off of me!" The kid yelled. ("Helena! What are you doing?") I twisted the kid''s arm around, revealing Luna''s coin purse in their hand. "This... person was stealing your money," I told her. She looked shocked and the kid ineffectively tried to wiggle out of my grip. "Let go! You''re hurting me!" Luna checked her belt and confirmed that her coin pouch was indeed missing. Her face paled. ("I would have been devastated if I lost that much money to a pickpocket.") "Let go! I didn''t steal anything!" I looked over them. They didn''t look that bad for a pickpocket. They didn''t look like a street urchin or a beggar, they looked like a dumb kid who did something stupid. They were a beastkin, some kind of rodent based on their ears and long tail. They looked pretty androgynous, I would have thought it was a boy but I knew it was a girl based on how she smelled. It was kind of weird that I could tell the difference by scent now. "Drop her pouch and I''ll let you go," I told the kid. "I thought you were blind." The kid glowered at me but she let me pluck the coin pouch from her hand and give it back to Luna. "You thought it would have been better to steal from a blind person?" I asked incredulously. "I wasn''t stealing from you, I was stealing from the noble girl." The moment I released my grip on her she dashed off, only stopping to stick her tongue out at me before she kept running. ("Noble girl?") I asked while turning to Luna.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Her ears went back and she frowned at the question. ("My father was wealthy so I was raised in a manor. I don''t have any connection to royalty but sometimes people think I am based on how I look.") ("What do you mean? Fox beastkin?") She giggled. ("No. Well... Blue eyes are rare for fox beastkin. A fox beastkin with blue eyes might make people think I have some connection to dragon heritage but I doubt it. My father was a human so my mother must have been a fox beastkin like I am. I find it unlikely she could have been related to dragon royalty. I just must have gotten lucky with my eyes, humans sometimes have blue eyes so it''s probably just that.") Luna opened her robes a bit and slid her money pouch into it. ("You''re not sticking that between your breasts are you?") I asked. Luna''s face turned a little red and she coughed. ("No! Of course not! I have an inner pocket... gosh you can be so crude sometimes.") She was grinning with amusement so I didn''t think that was exactly a rebuke. I followed Luna into the store and we started looking around at the clothes. Well, it was probably more of a tailor. They had some premade clothes, but I got the impression they were mainly used as examples for custom-made things considering a majority of the store was filled with different kinds of fabric. Still, there was enough to look through and the woman who ran the shop was busy with someone else when we came in. ("Are pickpockets a common problem here in Fallow?") I asked Luna. She frowned. ("I''ve never had a problem before... but I let my guard down. I probably shouldn''t have kept my coin pouch in such an obvious place.") I shrugged. ("At least I noticed. They didn''t think I would see them, or hear them, I guess I should say. I heard her cut your coin purse free, she cut the string with a knife.") Luna looked up at me. ("You actually heard that? I didn''t think your hearing was that good in this form.") ("It''s better than it was when I was... normal. And after spending so much time in the dungeon in my umber hound form, it''s easier to distinguish sounds than it used to be too. All of my senses seem stronger than they were when I was normal.") ("Hmm... well some of that is the mana that you''ve absorbed from the monsters we''ve slain. It''s normal for delvers to develop better senses over time, but yours seem stronger because of your transformation too. That''s interesting.") I ran some smooth and comfy feeling fabric between my fingers. Something like this would be nice to sleep in. It felt a bit like satin, I wonder how well it breathes. ("I also haven''t been able to test the ability I got from whatever I ate in the lost halls. It was strange being in the form of a frost salamander,") I said. Luna froze and turned to me. ("What? You can turn into a frost salamander now?") ("Why are you so surprised? I told you when we met back up.") She sighed and rubbed her forehead ("I was really distracted at the time, that was right after the floor had been broken. I must not have registered it when you told me. So how does it work?") ("Well, like I said, I haven''t been able to test it again. It feels similar to the power I got from the misty wolves. I feel a lump of mana inside me that lets me activate it. This one... I don''t know, wanted me to pick something so I thought about the frost salamander because... it tasted the best.") It felt a bit embarrassing to admit that last bit for some reason. ("And then you turned into a frost salamander? What did it look like? How did it feel?") she asked curiously. I shook my head. ("I was pretty distracted at the time. I''m not sure what I looked like. It was dark and I wasn''t thinking about that. As for how it felt... It felt like of like I gained even more instincts in the process. In the heat of the moment, I kind of leaned into them and I shot that icy mucus they use at the monsters that were attacking me.") ("...did that feel gross?") I laughed. ("Probably? Like I said I was a bit distracted and I didn''t get a good opportunity to think about that. And since the floor right after that was crowded, I haven''t been able to try the ability again or figure out how it works. I probably won''t have the chance to use it again until no one''s around which may be a while if we''re travelling in a caravan soon.") Luna frowned and her tail stopped swaying behind her. ("That''s unfortunate. Do you think you could get away with using it in the inn?") Her disappointment made me chuckle. ("Probably not a good idea, I don''t know how exactly it works and it would be terrible if I turned into something too big by accident and broke something. It''s better to wait until we can test it out in the open somewhere.") She shook her head. ("It''s not something you should just leave in your back pocket. If there''s an emergency while we''re traveling you should know how it works so you can use it if you have to.") ("I don''t disagree, but it''ll be difficult,") I replied. "Are the two of you looking for anything in particular? I see you''ve taken a liking to a few of our fabrics." A green-scaled drakken with a surprisingly feminine voice came up to us after finishing with her previous customers. "Uh, yes. I was interested in this fabric and a few other ones. What kinds of things can you make?" I asked the woman. The drakken woman spent a while with us helping us pick out a few fabrics that would go well with some of the clothing patterns we wanted. It was going to be nice to get exactly the kinds of clothes I wanted tailored to fit me perfectly, the only downside was that I would have to pick them up tomorrow and we would have to pay a bit extra to get them so quickly. The prices seemed pretty good to me but I think my perspective was a bit skewed from the other large purchases I''ve made in the last few days. Luna seemed happy to go along with it though and wanted to get some custom clothes made for herself as well after I offered to help speak for her. In the end, I spent a silver bear and two pumas, which Luna said was a good deal for what we were getting. It was hard for me to judge since I didn''t have a good handle on how much things should cost yet but I did enjoy picking things out with Luna. After that, we went to the bathhouse together which was thankfully uneventful since Luna rented us a private bath to relax in together. I still felt a bit awkward being naked while sharing the large bathing pool with her, but at least I didn''t have to be naked in public and she didn''t seem to mind me being shy. We just talked about our day and some inconsequential stuff while soaking in the hot water. I don''t know if this counted as a date or anything... but I felt really at ease with her. We were enjoying ourselves so much we had to rush to make it back to the inn before sundown. Chapter 80

<~> Chapter 80 I was resting in bed with Luna lying next to me just staring at the ceiling while she slept. It was pretty early in the morning, last night was more subdued than the previous one so the two of us returned to our room early... and made out for a few hours. I blushed at the thought even as the pretty fox girl gently snored against my chest. We haven''t gone any further than kissing and cuddling yet, and I got the impression that this was as far as things would go before we made things more official. The idea of marrying her still felt... intimidating, but I really was infatuated with her. I''ve had many crushes since high school but this was the first time I had ever been able to act on any of them. It felt so good for my feelings to be returned for once. I think this is more than just infatuation though... I really did think I was in love with her. There wasn''t a reason to put off making our engagement official anymore. She had asked me not to hold back when I was ready and... I think I''m ready. I''m not ready for the marriage part yet, but I think I could handle getting engaged and promising ourselves to each other now. I knew I was jumping the gun a little by the standards of my home, but screw it, I was in love. If something happened I could still back out of the engagement. It wasn''t binding until the marriage was official... right? Ugh, I better ask Luna about their customs. It was less romantic than going on one knee and proposing, but I don''t know if that''s even a thing here. The whole dominant and submissive conversation made it clear that we need to talk about this stuff. I couldn''t just make assumptions. I can''t tell where our cultures line up and where they don''t yet. Were wedding and engagement rings a thing here? It might send some mixed messages after trading for everyone''s rings if I tried to propose to her with one of them now. The jewelry we''re getting is functional, it''s not just a pretty thing to look at, the way rings are back home. Giving her a ring of water magic and saying it was an engagement ring doesn''t feel right... especially after giving all of her friends rings and necklaces too... Luna began to stir in my arms and smiled the moment she looked up at me. She didn''t say anything to me at first, she just rubbed her fluffy ear against me in a way that made me laugh. I pulled a lock of her blond hair out of her face and stared down into those pretty blue eyes I loved so much. "You keep rubbing up against me like that. It''s cute," I whispered to her. ("I''m telling all the other boys and girls that you''re mine,") she whispered back through the rings. I raised an eyebrow but I couldn''t stop myself from showing her an amused smile. ("You''re scent-marking me then?") Luna''s face flushed a little bit but that didn''t break her smile. ("You know what that is? I thought maybe you wouldn''t since you were a human.") I nodded. ("It''s a thing a lot of animals do so I''ve heard about it in school.") She giggled. ("It''s funny that something that''s just... normal to beastkin, is a curiosity among the humans from your world. There are theories that our domesticated pets started doing it to copy beastkin, seems that isn''t the case.") My hand slid up her ears and I explored the skin and folds of her red and black foxy appendages. She rested her head against my chest and allowed me to poke and prod at them to my heart''s content. ("Luna... I think I''m ready to call our engagement official. Why don''t we talk about what that means to both of us so that we can lay out our expectations.") She sat up a little and looked into my eyes. ("Truly?") I smiled at her. ("I am. For me, this is a pretty big step. One that I''m taking a lot earlier than people where I come from usually do. That''s why I want to know what exactly engagement and marriage mean here so that I can have the right expectations. As well as some of the... rituals for lack of a better word. Where I come from, one person ''officially'' proposes to the other on one knee, presenting a ring, and often in a public space. It would be pretty silly if I assumed that would be the same here and that wasn''t the case.") ("Oh... that would be pretty embarrassing to do in public like that. No, the uh, ritual I suppose you could say, usually involves trading a braided lock of each other''s hair along with a small token. These could be rings but they don''t have to be. Usually they''re things like unenchanted necklaces or rings, a lucky coin, wood or stone carvings, beads, gems, paintings, or other things like that. Something usually small to remember each other by. Wealthier people tend to give things that are more like jewelry but I''ve known adventures that have given each other weapons. That sort of thing is rare though because people don''t like to lose the tokens they''ve exchanged. Keeping the token isn''t technically required but most people do,") Luna explained. ("I could give you one of the rings we were already planning to give you... but that feels a little odd considering I''m giving everyone something...") Luna giggled. ("Maybe. I wouldn''t mind though. The token isn''t important, the meaning behind it is.") I smiled and caressed her face. ("I suppose.") ("As for expectations...") she continued. ("It varies a little bit based on the different cultures, but for beastkin, it usually means that the person is your selected... breeding partner. That wouldn''t necessarily be the case for us, since we''re both women, but the expectation is that we would intend to raise children together eventually and... *be intimate.") I nodded. ("That makes sense. That means that sex is usually reserved for those that are married then?")This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Luna blushed bright red and broke eye contact. ("Yes. that''s what it usually means for beastkin. Some races are more... lax, but most are supposed to wait till marriage. Brides sometimes are already... pregnant at their weddings, but it''s uncommon. There are herbs that temporarily suppress fertility or virility so if the intent is just... that, then marriage doesn''t need to happen. I wouldn''t accept being intimate before marriage though.") ("That''s okay,") I said to reassure her. Then frowned at the next question. ("How... binding is engagement and marriage supposed to be? And how long are we supposed to be engaged before marriage?") The question made Luna calm down a little now that we''ve moved on from topics that embarrass her. ("Engagement is considered a strong commitment. Some wealthy people are expected to give gifts to the bride''s family sometimes and that stuff is usually kept if things are broken off. That wouldn''t be the case for us, or most other travelers and hunters. Our life is more dangerous and unpredictable, so that sort of stuff doesn''t happen unless the groom in question is already very wealthy or if the bride isn''t a hunter themselves. For us, it would just be a promise that we intend to get married eventually. As for how long people usually stay engaged before marriage, it varies but a year is the usual length. Sometimes less and sometimes more, depending on the situation. Once both parties have committed to the marriage and the wedding ceremony has passed, the intention is for them to stay married for the rest of their lives, though divorce happens sometimes. It''s considered dishonorable for both parties to divorce, both sides of the marriage would have failed to keep their partner happy. That doesn''t stop it from happening and it doesn''t stop them from being remarried though.") I nodded. ("Most of that is true of where I come from as well, though divorce is more common and accepted and dowries don''t happen anymore, at least in the part of the world that I lived in.") ("Does your culture accept multiple wives?") Luna asked. I shook my head. ("No. That was illegal where I came from. Multiple marriages weren''t recognized and the way things had gone culturally, if someone wanted multiple lovers they were more likely to not be married at all. Even outside of marriages, most people didn''t like the idea of someone having multiple lovers. It wasn''t the norm.") ("That''s... a bit relieving, but I should probably tell you that multiple husbands or wives is the norm here. You wouldn''t have to have multiple if you don''t want to... and I think I would prefer things that way too, but you should know that it''s accepted and normal here. Especially among beastkin and for pairs of women who marry, since marriage is usually intended to make breeding claims clear to others. Most assume a pair of women intend to share a husband or take a male as a submissive later.") I frowned. ("I don''t want to share you with anyone else and I''m not interested in marrying a man to knock us up. I only like women, I don''t even want to have sex with a man. I... would consider one of us having a donor father but that''s as far as I think I''d be willing to go.") She blushed a little at the mention of donor father, the rings luckily did a good job of translating the euphemism based on her reaction, but her face relaxed once I finished. In the end she smiled before she continued. ("I''m glad... for both parts. I don''t think I want to share you with anyone and I don''t like men that way either so sharing a man is... unappealing to me. I''m not sure if I want to have children at all... but I would consider it when I''m older.") There was a lull in the conversation before I decided to ask something a little confusing to me. ("Luna, don''t take this the wrong way, I''m not asking because I want to pressure you into something. But why do you want to save intimacy until after marriage, if the purpose of marriage mostly has to do with ''breeding claims'' as you put it? We''re both women, does marriage actually make much difference?") Luna frowned and sighed before looking away. ("It''s... maybe it''s a bit selfish, but I''m afraid that if I don''t get married... I never will. I want to be with someone, to have that kind of commitment. Most people wouldn''t look twice at me once they''ve learned I couldn''t speak or they saw the scars across my throat. For most people I''m just... damaged. Not worth it. I promised myself that I wouldn''t allow anyone to use me for that kind of thing, I need the commitment of marriage to have complete trust that you... or anyone, wouldn''t just throw me away afterward. Not that I think you would, but... I just need it to feel safe. Some people only like girls if they''re unspoiled by others so I want to save myself for whoever loves me enough to commit to it.") I rubbed her back. ("I don''t think that''s selfish. If that''s what you need to feel comfortable and safe, then that''s okay. It''s hard for me to wrap my head around that because, where I come from, marriage almost didn''t matter anymore. The only people who bother with it either stick it out or get divorced in two years. I already didn''t have a girlfriend, I''m not going to shrivel up and die if you don''t sleep with me for a year, or however long it takes for us to marry,") I joked. Luna hugged herself against me. ("Thanks for understanding... maybe it wouldn''t make much difference, but it''s what I want. So thank you for not pushing me to do anything I''m not comfortable with.") I kissed her on the top of her head. ("No problem. I wouldn''t want to scare off such a beautiful lady. If seeing you in a white dress is what it''s going to take to make you comfortable, I think I can wait.") ("White dress?") she asked curiously. I laughed. ("Where I come from, brides wear white on their wedding day. Looks like another thing our cultures don''t have in common.") She giggled. ("Well, there''s nothing to say that I couldn''t wear a white dress if it made you happy for the ceremony. What about the groom?") ("A black suit for the groom. Things kind of go out the window when you''re talking about lesbians though. I''ve seen videos where they both wear white, both where black, or neither of them wear traditional colors at all,") I answered. I was surprised how little I was intimidated by talking about this. I couldn''t tell if I was in denial or acceptance but... I couldn''t help but picture Luna in a pretty white wedding dress hanging off my arm and smiling. The details would have to be hammered out but... I think I am ready to commit to this. ("Luna...") I said. My mouth suddenly felt a bit dry. ("I don''t have a token for you yet but... would you show me how to braid the lock of hair? I... I think I''m ready.") She sat up and looked into my eyes, her face was illuminated by their white glow. The smile on her face was radiant and she never looked more beautiful than in that moment. I couldn''t help myself, I pulled her into another kiss. Chapter 81

<~> Chapter 81 The drakken jeweler set the pieces of jewelry on the counter for us. All of the unique effects sparkled and glowed in different shades to my magic sight. Two amulets, a bracer, and six rings. She quickly ran through and pointed them out to me and I rearranged them to be in sets for everyone. The red-scaled drakken was grinning from ear to ear as she watched me arrange each piece. I looked up at her after a moment and smiled. "Are you still happy with the trade?" She nodded. "I am." I pulled out the wrapped crystal and placed it on the counter between us. She unwrapped it and smiled down at it before accepting it. "Great! This is perfect. Thanks so much for trading this to me! If you ever need any help in the jewelry business or want to get something valuable appraised, come to me. In my experience, people who walk through the door with stuff like this once will likely come through again. I''ll give you good deals and point you in the right direction if I can''t help you myself." I smiled. "Thanks, Angela. I''ll keep that in mind." To start with, I picked up the spatial ring that was set aside for me. Just like the telepathy ring, it automatically sized to my finger as soon as I slipped it on. "How do I activate it?" Her brow ridge furrowed as she looked down at it. "Uh, you already are? Just think about your weapon disappearing and it should..." The moment I thought about it I felt the weight of the axe slung from my back disappear and I almost fell forward from the change in my center of gravity. "Whoa, that''s trippy," I said to myself in English. "You should probably not be pumping so much magic into it, there''s no reason to..." the drakken said. "Oh... I have an issue with mana regulation. I can''t really control it yet," I told her. "Well you should work on that, otherwise everything that you think too much about while touching is going to disappear into the ring by accident," she said with a chuckle. "Oh, it won''t work on living things though of course." "I... see. What happens to the stuff inside when I take it off?" I asked. "It stays in the ring. But be careful, if anyone steals the ring they can take everything out of it too. It only allows people to take things out of it if they''re wearing the ring though. It binds to you when it resizes to fit," the drakken explained. ("Take it off for now. I''ll help you work on your mana regulation tonight,") Luna promised me. I stored my shield into it too before taking the ring off and placing it back on the counter for now. I can see this thing being very helpful. I pointed out the ring that was intended for Luna. "How do we connect this to the other rings?" I asked. She nodded and smiled. "Just make sure whoever is going to wear the ring going forward puts it on while they''re still wearing the old one and it''ll temporarily bind to the rings until another telepathy ring is put on their finger, even after the old one is taken off. It''s kind of awkward, but this was the best workaround we could come up with after I looked at your ring yesterday. The only potential drawback is that whoever is wearing the new ring pays the entire mana cost of using it and that cost is increased for each additional ring they target. But, that may be better if whoever is wearing it has a larger mana pool than the others." I picked up the ring and turned to Luna who smiled and held her finger out. I slipped it on her ring finger and she blushed with the unstated knowledge of what the gesture meant in my world after we talked about my customs this morning. She told me we would swap our locks of hair in the moonlight tonight. The idea tickled the sense of mysticism in me, but she said it was normal to commit to the engagement at night under the light of the moon. It felt even more fitting to me that tonight would be a full moon due to my recent resemblance to a werewolf and because of her namesake, which amusingly does not mean moon here. I was looking forward to it. Before Luna tested the new ring, she removed the old one and gave it to Aria to wear. She slipped it on her finger with a smile. And looked up at Luna, ready for the test. ("Can everyone hear me okay?") Luna asked all of us at once. ("Loud and clear!") I replied. Luna suddenly winced and flicked her ears. ("I can hear all of you at once. It was kind of loud. Can you hear each other?") she asked. "No," Maxwell said out loud. "It''s a drawback, but at least you can talk to all of us now. Even me, since it''s supported by your mana now."Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Piper nodded. "Yep, it seems to work great. Now it''s your turn, time for you to wear this mana storage ring! This should help you use the telepathy rings more in combat." Piper picked up the ring and handed it to Maxwell who slid it on. After a moment Piper smiled and nodded. "Yep, I can hear you perfectly fine. This will be helpful when we''re trying to be quiet in the dungeon or are talking about something sensitive. It''s too bad these rings don''t work the way that Luna''s does." "Still, it will be useful," Maxwell agreed. Piper and Luna took their jewelry and put it on, Piper being the only one to receive two of the larger crystals, a mana regeneration amulet, and a magic amplifying bracer. The bracer looked like a silvery ornate forearm cuff with a pearlescent gem embedded into the glowing magic crystal. The heavy-duty amulet Luna was wearing matched Piper''s bracer and was attached by a very sturdy looking cord with wire weaved into it. Each of Luna''s hands had two rings on them now. She favored her middle and ring fingers for her four rings on both hands. The last ring was for Aria. The stone on her ring was a dark purple with two beads of the glowing crystal on either side of it and had a band that trailed the entire perimeter of the ring as well. She smiled down at it as she put it on. I could see a small amount of mana flare through the ring as she activated it. "The last thing for you guys is the lantern. Sorry my uncle couldn''t be here, he was up late working on this and asked me to take the payment in his stead. Honestly, I think it came out much better than I expected." She opened up a wooden box she had carried out and placed a beautifully decorated lantern on the counter. It was made from a dark looking metal that looked similar to the daggers Aria used. It had four faces and each face had its own closing shutter. She pointed out four sliding rails on each diagonal on the top of the boxy lantern. "These slides open and close the internal shutters. You can use these to open and close each shutter if you want to hide or focus the light it gives off or to contain the regeneration field it releases." She slid all four open at once and the immediate area was bathed with a more intense version of the magic that my blindfold could pick up, giving me an even more detailed and vibrant view of the world than before. Using this lantern, my vision was barely impaired at all by the blindfold and because of my ability to see mana, it gave everything an even richer sense of sight. In the store, I couldn''t see the purple glow that it was supposed to have, but I should be able to see the glow later when I take my blindfold off. The corscant crystal was worked into the shape of the lantern so you wouldn''t necessarily recognize it as that at a glance, despite the obvious veins of it throughout the intricate and beautiful metalwork. ("Helena... it''s beautiful,") Luna told me. I smiled and picked it up to get a closer look. It was a bit heavier than I expected which gave it a sense of sturdiness that was reassuring for something I intended to hang from my belt most of the time. I slid one of the shutters open and closed and was pleased to find that they were stiff enough to hold in place even when partially open, yet weren''t difficult to move along the guided tracks. Each slide on the diagonal of the lantern''s top opened and closed the panel to the right of it, making it easily usable one-handed when hanging on my left side. I was really happy with it. "This is amazing. Much better than I had hoped," I said. Angela grinned with her toothy smile. "I''m glad you like it. Uncle worked really hard on this late into the night to have it finished before you came to pick it up today. He''ll be happy to hear how much you like it." I pulled the coins out of my purse and placed them on the counter. She smiled and inspected each of the eight golden tiger coins before nodding and placing them into a locking metal box. "I will make sure to deliver this to him as soon as he wakes up. Thanks again for working something out with me. Like I said before, if you need anything jewelry related, or even crafting related, come to me and I''ll help you out or point you in the right direction." I nodded. "Thanks, Angela. I''ll be sure to keep that in mind." The five of us left the shop and headed for the armor smith next. I noticed that Aria and Luna were looking at each other while walking. They were probably getting to know each other a little bit now that they could finally talk to each other. I was happy that things were working out, I think the new ring would help Aria feel included more. I walked into the armor smith not knowing what to expect. The apprentice we met yesterday ushered us into the back room where my new armor was waiting for me on a stand. And it was... wow. Imposing, crazy, wild. It looked badass and the colors appealed to my inner umber hound instincts as well. It did look a bit edgy but in a way I could live with. The breastplate was made of a dark metal with silver lines decorating the surface. Carved bone curled around the side of it like ribs and the neck and shoulders had a shadowy black-furred coif lying on top of the metal pauldrons. The legs were made of a matching black leather made of the same material and covered in dark metal plates that protected my legs and shins. Around the waist was a short mid-thigh skirt made from more of the umber hound fur but looked loose enough not to actually restrict my movements at all. The arms had similar metal gauntlets but these ones covered the entire arm other than the bottom side of my hand. The whole ensemble looked intimidating with its dark metal, magically smoky fur, and silver trim. "Good, Maximus and you lot are here. You, the tall one, set your bag down and let my apprentice show you how to put it on. I don''t want you to complain to me if you have a strap in the wrong place or something stupid," the old smith grumbled at us. The smith kept talking about the armor while the apprentice walked me through the process of how to properly equip it. "The armor came out real well. The coif can be raised above the head and worn like a hood or kept around the neck, either way, that fur is strong enough to stop most blades but it won''t dampen the impact much. The silver trim there has ground bone mixed in so it shouldn''t flake or tarnish because of the magic. It''ll get scratched up but the repair enchantment should clean it up along with everything else. I tested the materials for magical resonance while working on it, the expected shadow affinity was there, but there was also the spatial affinity you mentioned too, surprisingly enough. You should mention that when you take it to get enchanted further, any good enchanter will take advantage of that resonance and make any enchantments you put on it go further. That''s especially good for the resizing enchantment you were asking about. I don''t know why you would want that sort of thing unless you planned to share the armor or pass it down like an heirloom, but the affinity would be good for that. Since it had such good affinity for shadow magic, I made the armor darker to help with that. No use in shiny steel armor if you''re trying to hide in a forest with this. I enjoyed working on it. If you want it, pay my apprentice. Either way, get out. I''m busy." Without listening for another word the smith went to a back room and we could hear him start working on something else. I stretched in the armor and found that it gave me plenty freedom of movement. It felt a bit heavier than I was used to, like wearing a weighted blanket, but it felt surprisingly easy to move around in without getting tired. I wasn''t sure how much of that was my improved strength and how much of it was how well-balanced the armor felt though. Probably a bit of both. I felt like a walking tank, I would have to train with it and get used to wearing it in combat, but it felt good. Made me a bit less wary of fighting in my human form. There was a belt loop that let me hang my new lantern from it comfortably and even had a loose strap that I was able to use to tie it into place so it wouldn''t move much. The apprentice gave us a weary grin before leading us back to the front and taking the eight tigers I owed him, leaving me with only seven left. Two-thirds of my money was gone in a single day but I felt much better about my purchases now that I was wearing them. I felt powerful and imposing in a way that I didn''t know I liked. From the interested looks and smile I was seeing from Luna, it seemed like she approved too. Chapter 82

<~> Chapter 82 It was a cold night with light snowfall as the two of us sat in the moonlight together. Luna and I were sitting on a bench in the small park near the center of town only a short walk away from our inn. My face was bright red when Luna explained to the others what we were doing and they kept their teasing minimal as we snuck off to do the engagement ritual by ourselves. I looked around. It was late and cold out and there weren''t many other people around. I knew it was a risk but I wanted to look into her eyes for something like this. I touched the front of my blindfold and with a thought, the blindfold disappeared into the ring I now wore on my index finger. I was still working on controlling my magic output but Luna had been a patient teacher. I would still need to work on it in the coming days but I already could at least control it this much. Once I had my normal vision back something took all my attention away. The moon was full tonight and looked gigantic above us. The giant glowing white moon looked odd to me for a few moments until I realized what was so strange about it. The pattern on the face of the moon looked completely different. The moon from my old world had a very distinct pattern that I had seen thousands of times, seeing a different pattern caught me off guard. This moon was no less beautiful and the increased size of it made it all the more spectacular. It reminded me of the moon in the dungeon above the lake where I met Luna for the first time. ("Are you ready?") Luna asked. I turned to face her and smiled. ("I am. How do we do this?") She took my hands and the two of us scooted so that we were mostly facing each other on the bench. She bit her lip and looked up at me. ("Your eyes remind me of the moonlight.") Her hand reached out to caress my face and she pulled me in for a short kiss. When she pulled away again she was smiling. ("First, offer me your braid.") I pulled the small braided locks of my hair out of my pocket and held it out to her with both hands. It was about the length of my palm and was pretty simple. It was tied between a pair of blue beads we had found when walking through town together. It was a bit against tradition for her to help me choose them, but considering I didn''t know the traditions she didn''t complain about it. My shiny black hair reflected the moonlight and looked pretty despite just being hair. She smiled and pulled out her own braid. Hers was golden blond and was tied between a pair of red beads. She smiled up at me and held it out in front of her. ("I accept you as my dominant.") She placed her braid into my hands and took the black one for herself. I still had mixed feelings about her phrasing but I decided to meet her halfway. ("I accept you as my bride.") I curled my fingers around the blond braid and slipped it into my pocket. She giggled and leaned against me. ("I suppose that''s fine. It''s probably unfair of me to expect you to follow all my traditions perfectly.") I slipped an arm around her and pulled her against me. ("I will compromise and meet you halfway, but I don''t want to do anything that makes me uncomfortable and I wouldn''t want to make you do anything you would be uncomfortable with either. I''ll take the position as ''your dominant'' but I won''t treat you as any lesser than my partner and my bride.") She smiled and shook her head. ("That''s fair enough.") She gave me a kiss and leaned back to look me in the eyes. ("The next step is to trade tokens of our affection. You gave me a ring that allows me to talk with you and the others and I want to accept it as your token, so I got you this one to match.") She held out a different ring, it was a shiny silver band with six small blue gems embedded in it. ("The dungeon and wilderness are dangerous places and the floor of the dungeon that separated us isn''t the only magic in this world that can do things like that. We''re promising to be together and this ring will make sure we can face any challenges as a team. It''s tuned to my unique mana signature, whenever you power it, it''ll point you in my direction. I might want to make you chase me from time to time, but it''s because I always want you to catch me in the end.") She gave me a mischievous smile as her tail swayed back and forth behind her in amusement. I took the ring and slid it onto my right ring finger, like the other rings I''ve tried, it adjusted to be a perfect fit automatically. I looked at it for a moment and smiled when I realized that my eyes made the stones twinkle just like her eyes did when I looked into them. When I looked back up at her I had a huge grin on my face. ("Thank you, I''ll cherish it.") She leaned in and we began to kiss once again. We were engaged for real now. It felt so strange to think about. Our relationship was moving so fast but at the same time... it felt so comfortable. After everything we''ve been through together, I felt like I could trust her more than I had ever trusted anyone. I had heard of the suspension bridge effect before, the idea that you''re more likely to fall in love in a dangerous situation, but it''s more than that. We risked our lives together. She''s used her magic to protect me and I''ve used my claws to protect her. I trust her to have my back just as I would do everything I could to protect her. Even in the heat of battle when my instincts are at their highest, she''s still a top priority even for the more... bestial parts of my brain. I sensed that the little ritual was done based on the relaxed atmosphere that Luna gave off now. I stared up at the moon for another few moments before raising my arm and summoning the blindfold back into place. I was once again in the darkness lit up by all of the magic nearby and the lantern on my hip. The nice thing about this ring is that I could summon things on and off of me as long as they fit in the ring. My armor was too bulky and heavy to fit inside but all the rest of my stuff hadn''t been an issue so far. Luna let out another cold breath and curled up next to me on the bench. ("Are you cold?") I asked. ("No... but you''re warm. Let''s stay out here together a little longer.") I smiled and squeezed her against me.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. We were quiet for a few minutes before she broke off the silence with a giggle. ("I can''t believe I''m engaged! We met in a dungeon! What are the chances of that?") I laughed and shrugged. ("Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon?") ("Well, no, not exactly. But still,") she said amused. ("At least we''ll be able to tell people who ask us how we met, a daring story of me saving your life from the brink of death. Did you fall in love at first sight? Did you feel weak in the knees once I walked up after saving you and your friends?") I joked. Luna laughed. ("Truthfully, I was worried the entire time that we were about to be eaten. Even when you walked up in your human form, we weren''t sure if you were about to attack us. I can honestly say without a doubt that my attraction to you was anything but love at first sight.") I dramatically held a hand to my chest. ("Oh! You wound me so! To think I had to earn your affection!") The two of us laughed together at my silliness and cuddled up on the bench together. I looked at the falling snow. I didn''t even feel like I needed the coat I was wearing but it didn''t feel uncomfortable to wear either. Luna seemed to be about at her limit despite how much she seemed to be enjoying our time alone in the moonlit snow together. She wore a much heavier coat and still looked a bit too cold. I was about to suggest we go back inside but she cut me off. ("Helena... Thank you for everything you''ve done for us. I don''t know if I ever properly thanked you for saving my life back then, and you''ve saved my life a few times since then I''m sure. You''re helping with the debt my friends got in because of me and even had rings crafted for me that will make my life a lot better. I think I would love you for all of that, even if you weren''t such a brave, strong, and beautiful person. I... I''m just so glad that I met you and that you are returning my feelings. I don''t often feel lucky but you''re so much more than I could have asked for.") A pair of tears traveled down her face but I chose not to comment on them. I kissed her on top of the head. ("All of this has been so crazy, so insane. Almost getting eaten, falling into a cave that I later find out is a dungeon, finding out that I was in a different world while being attacked by monsters... You and the others are the only things keeping me grounded, stopping me from freaking out and panicking. To find someone that I want to be with for the rest of my life despite all of that? I feel like I''m the lucky one.") She sat up and kissed my neck. ("Helena, I love you. Thank you for everything.") I wrapped my arms around her. ("I love you too. You''re welcome and thank you for everything.") She giggled, wiped away her tears, and gave me one more kiss on the cheek before pulling away. ("Let me see the braid I gave you.") I nodded and pulled the braid of hair out of my pocket. She found a ring on my shirt and clipped the braid to it. ("This ring here is meant for people to display their braids to others. I realized when you put it into your pocket that you might not know,") she said with a chuckle. ("We''ll go see a mage tomorrow about protecting the braids. Weaved hair will normally last forever but adventurers like us need to get additional protection from things like fire and acids. It''s pretty common for people to get it protected so it shouldn''t be hard to track someone down at a fairly inexpensive price.") She smiled as she looked at it. ("Now everyone will know that we''re officially engaged. Wear it this way for at least a week. Longer if you''re willing. You can move it to a different spot if you like. That''s what this ring here is for, but it''s acceptable to wear it wherever you want.") She took the braid I had given her and clipped it to her robes. It also had a small ring hidden under one of the hems. She smiled and thumbed the braid made from my hair. It felt a little odd from my perspective but this obviously meant a lot to her. I suppose it''s a form of engagement ring along with the tokens of affection we shared with each other. I thumbed the new ring on my finger and poured a little bit of mana into it. I felt a slight pull in her direction giving me reassurance that it works. It sounded like it didn''t have a range, or at least had a very long one from what she said. I liked the idea of having something that would let me find her and keep her safe. At the same time, having a ring that would take me right to her felt a bit invasive, but if she didn''t mind then I shouldn''t either I suppose. I pulled her into a hug against me and stood up, easily lifting her into the air with me. She giggled and kicked her feet as I walked through the snow. "Let''s go back inside. It''s cold out here," I said. She nodded and rested her head against my shoulder. ("Are you planning on carrying me the entire way?") I started walking through the park carrying her in my arms. "Only if you don''t have a problem with that." She nuzzled her face into the crook of my neck and kissed it. ("No, I want everyone to see how strong my fianc¨¦ is.") I laughed. ("Let''s see if I can scare off any challengers before they even think about it.") She giggled again. ("Yup, they should be scared. No one is going to defeat my Helena.") After a short walk through the snow, I stepped back into the tavern and the entire room cheered when I carried my new fianc¨¦ through the door. "A round for everyone!" Maxwell called out. The entire bar cheered once again as I walked across the room to our usual spot. My face felt a bit warm when I sat down at the table with my friends. It was embarrassing to be called out like that in front of everyone but to prove I wasn''t embarrassed of my lover, I pulled her into a kiss in front of the crowd and got another cheer from the rowdy bar patrons. Maxwell was not the only one to buy the two of us a drink that night and we went back to our shared room quite drunk after that. The two of us hadn''t been allowed to pay for a single drink for ourselves and yet I probably had even more to drink than the last time. Chapter 83

<~> Chapter 83 "I didn''t expect for us to be leaving already. I thought we were leaving at the end of the week," I said. Piper laughed. "We said by the end of the week. We already took care of everything we needed to do here and the association already found us an escorting job." It''s been two days since Luna and I formally proposed to each other. We mostly spent the time since then relaxing, shopping, working on my reading, and eating out in the city since we didn''t have any more pressing matters before we needed to leave. I thought we still had another two days to relax but it seems I was mistaken... ("It''ll be fine. There will be plenty to do in Ironcastle too when we get there. It''s an even larger city so there will be plenty to explore,") Luna said to all of us. It took me a little while to notice, but she sounds a little bit different through the rings when she speaks to everyone in the group. She''s been using her rings to talk to all of us regularly since she got the new one. It''s been a huge relief for her. Her mood has noticeably improved in the last few days. I was wearing my full set of imposing armor right now since we wanted to make a good first impression. We were going to meet the caravan of wagons we would be escorting through the wilderness toward Ironcastle today. From what I''ve been told, the first two-thirds of the trip will be through the forest with the last third changing to arid grasslands. My weapon and backpack were stored in my new ring and my new lantern was hanging on my belt. Luna and I were also both wearing each other''s braids on our chest from the ring near our collars, she''s made it clear that she wants me to wear it as much as possible for a while. I''ll probably put it away once fighting is more likely to happen though. We got them reinforced by an alchemist but I still don''t want to risk losing it. "Your armor really does look good on you," Maxwell said. "It makes you look a lot more dangerous as a human." "Thanks," I said with a nod. We agreed that I would have to hide my wolf form unless there was an emergency. I didn''t want to get in trouble with that crazy hunter''s association manager. He was pretty scary. I would need to get used to fighting in my human form for this trip, but my friends told me there wasn''t much to worry about. We shouldn''t run into anything as dangerous as we had been fighting in the dungeon for a while. Most of the smarter and more dangerous monsters avoided the road we would be taking since the caravans routinely killed any monsters that were near. The path we were taking was the most dangerous when the road was first being trailblazed by the hunters that were connecting the two towns, nowadays it shouldn''t be as dangerous. Not that I have the best luck when it comes to these things, our trip through the dungeon was a lot more dangerous than most people''s as well. "This wagon yard coming up on the left is where we''re meeting the people we will be escorting," Maxwell told us as we approached the large gated clearing. This place looked similar to a trainyard to me. There were so many lined up wagons with people working on loading and unloading them. The only difference was the slight smell of manure and hay coming from the nearby stables in place of coal and grease. Rather than horses like I initially expected, the wagons were pulled around by monstrously huge cattle. Or oxen? I wasn''t sure if there was a difference or not. The fifteen-foot tall at the shoulder beasts seemed surprisingly calm when being hooked up to the large wagons they would be pulling, their temperament was a far cry from the bison we fought on the tenth floor of the dungeon. I wasn''t sure if that was attributed to those being dungeon monsters or these being domesticated though. Probably both. A young drakken with brownish-red scales was waiting for us at the gate and led us over to the caravan we would be working with as soon as they were loaded up. It was still pretty early in the morning but we would be leaving pretty soon from what I was told. "This is the leader of the caravan, Korr''tak," the drakken waved over a draco with shiny green scales. His scales looked somewhat translucent, making him look like his scales were made of emeralds. He was a muscular draco that was above average height but still shorter than me. The draco came over and looked to immediately be sizing us up. He seemed to approve of us though because his face spread into a toothy grin before resting on Maxwell. "Hello! Maxwell I presume? I''m happy to see that your group is here on time. Many independent hunters aren''t always punctual," he said. Maxwell nodded. "I''m happy to be here. Getting the opportunity to work with such a large caravan to Ironcastle is good fortune for us." "I''m happy to hear that. My name is Korr''tak, I am in charge of this caravan and I own four of the eight wagons we''ll be traveling with on this trip. The four remaining ones are independent transporters that I''ve been working with lately. They''re trustworthy people, no need to worry about that. You''ll be riding in the fourth wagon of our convoy, right there in the middle, to give you the best opportunity to deploy against any danger with the other group we hired. Since... three? of you are humans, we''ll use this standard human whistle to signal you in case there is trouble." His eyes trailed over me before deciding to count me as one of the humans in our group. I was so big that I think he might not be sure if I''m human too, which to be fair, isn''t entirely inaccurate. "Let me call your runner, she will be in charge of relaying information to you or sending your messages to other members of the caravan." Korr''tak pulled out a different whistle and blew on it. The sound was so high pitched it hurt my ears but the only ones that seemed to react to it at all were Luna and Aria, whose ears twitched subtly. They didn''t wince from it like I did, sometimes having good hearing sucked. Maxwell and Piper asked the draco some questions while we waited but I stopped listening so that I could look around at all of the busy people nearby. It was kind of amazing to see so many different varieties of beastkin, drakken, and draco running around working here. The sight looked more like a scene from an alien planet in a sci-fi movie than the magic one I was supposed to be in. Maybe I was just a little disappointed there were no elves and dwarves to round out my fantasy checklist. "Oh shit," someone said under their breath. I turned to look at the source of the voice and found out that our message runner was none other than the little mousey thief who tried to pickpocket Luna the other day. "Ah good, you''re finally here Iris. This is the other mercenary group we hired to escort us to Ironcastle. Your job will be to coordinate messages between us and bring them anything they need to help defend us." The draco turned to Maxwell. "She looks a little rough around the edges but she''s a good kid and she''s a hard worker." Now that I was getting a better look at the girl without her hooded cloak covering her, it was more obvious that she had large mouse ears and a long pink tail. She nervously looked at me and Luna before bowing in front of Maxwell. "I will be taking care of you. If you need anything don''t hesitate to ask." Maxwell raised an eyebrow and glanced back at me before laughing. "If you''re afraid of Helena, don''t be. She''s nice. She won''t hurt you, no need to worry about her." Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Korr''tak cleared his throat. "I have other things to get ready before we leave the city. Iris here can lead you to the wagon and tell you when the last whistle sounds before our departure. Your foxkin friend there should be able to hear it too, not sure if you''ll be able to hear it though," he said to Aria. She shrugged. "My hearing is pretty good but I''m not sure either. I guess I''ll find out." He nodded. "Quite. If you''ll excuse me then." He headed off toward another one of the wagons and started talking to someone who was holding something that looked a bit like a clipboard. It sounded like there were lots of manifests to check over before we left. ("This girl tried to steal my coinpouch a few days ago,") Luna told everyone through the rings. Iris didn''t hear it of course and waved us in a direction. "This way to the carriage you''ll be staying in for this trip." She gave another hesitant glance at me and Luna before hurrying forward. Maxwell sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Seriously? Why didn''t you say anything?" I shrugged and whispered my reply, "I caught her and she gave the coinpouch back. So I dropped it." "This girl is our runner. We need to be able to trust her," Maxwell said back. "I''m so sorry!" The mouse girl was bowing low at an almost forty-five-degree angle. The only way she could have bowed even lower was if she was kneeling on the ground. "I shouldn''t have tried to steal from you! Please don''t tell anyone, I need this job!" "It was dumb trying to steal from delvers kid, you never know when one of them has better senses than you think. We use Helena as a scout sometimes because her hearing is so good," Piper told her. The girl hesitantly stood back up and looked at Piper with a guilty look on her face. "They weren''t dressed as delvers at the time... and I thought she was blind..." Piper laughed. "That''s exactly what I mean. Unless you know how strong someone is, you shouldn''t steal from them. Helena here is pretty relaxed and carefree, but if you stole from someone as strong as she is, that was just a little more mean, she could have ripped you in half in an instant. If she grabbed you, she was probably being very careful not to hurt you. And Helena isn''t blind, that blindfold lets her see just as well as you or I can and her vision is probably even better without it." The mousekin gawked at me in disbelief. "S-she''s that strong?" Aria coughed and got the kid''s attention. "Helena is probably the strongest one in our group, at least in melee. She also chose to keep your secret from that draco, you should probably thank her for that." I turned to Aria, "Wait, how''d you know that?" She shrugged. "You were looking intently at the kid from the very start. I was wondering what was up with it. It''s obvious now that you recognized her." Piper bumped the kid''s shoulder to recapture her attention. "Let this be a lesson kid. Don''t steal from people in dungeon towns. It''s not worth it. If they''re walking around without help, they''re not blind." I laughed. "Shouldn''t you be telling the kid not to steal in the first place? Rather than essentially telling her not to get caught stealing?" Piper shrugged. "I mean sure, but if she''s stealing stuff from people she probably has her reasons." "So... you won''t tell anyone?" she asked. The anxiety in her voice was thick. I shrugged and looked at Luna. She sighed and shook her head. ("Tell her not to steal from any of us again and we won''t tell. But I''ll be watching her.") I relayed the message from Luna and the kid started nodding animatedly. "Yes! Yes! I promise! Thank you!" "Okay kid, show us where our wagon is then. I don''t want to be the last ones ready to go, it''ll look bad," Piper told her. The mousekin girl immediately turned around and started leading us through the crowd once again. "Sure, it''s this way. There is another group of hunters with us so the two of you will be sharing the wagon." "Is there anything else in the wagon?" I asked. She nodded. "Heavy stuff in crates, that way your two groups can sit on them without any issues. Just don''t open or break any of them and you''ll be fine. Since I''m your runner I''ll be helping you and the other group the entire time, so if you have any other questions don''t hesitate to ask." When we reached our wagon we saw the other group of hunters outside waiting. There were four of them, all beastkin. Two of them were full on wolfkin, they looked like upright talking wolves. They were some of the most pure animal people I had seen so far. The other two had rounded cat ears poking out of their blond hair with long spotted silver tails. The spots looked a bit different maybe, but they looked kind of like snow leopards to me. As we approached the two wolfkin stared at me... and they didn''t look all that friendly. Chapter 84

<~> Chapter 84 The four beastkin sized up our group as Iris led us toward them and bowed when we got close. "Valkin, this is Maxwell and his team of hunters. They will be escorting our caravan with you." Up close, the two wolfkin could be differentiated by their fur patterns. If it weren''t for that I probably wouldn''t be able to tell them apart. Valkin had a feathering of black fur around his face with dark markings above his eyes. The rest of his fur was mostly silver and white. The other wolfkin had a more reddish tone to his fur and some browns mixed into his mostly grey fur. Valkin scanned over the four of us before stopping on the braid tied to my armor and scoffed. "A human thinks she is strong enough to protect a bride?" He looked at the matching braid on Luna''s robe and shook his head. "You''d lift your tail for a human woman, fox runt?" Luna, naturally, didn''t say anything, but her ears immediately went back. At her silence, Valkin''s focus shifted back to me. "Your armor looks new and untested. You look like a rich bitch playing with toys. You''re likely to get us all killed. If you think you''re strong enough to take a bride, then prove it." My eyebrows raised and I turned to Luna. ("Is this one of those challenges you were talking about?") ("Yes. He''s a beastkin and a hotheaded one at that. He''s trying to establish dominance in our groups,") she replied. "What are you looking at your bride for whelp? Or did you get your braids switched and you''re actually the one that raises her tail?" "No, just checking her reaction. How do you want to do this?" I asked while rolling my shoulders. The wolfkin looked a bit caught off guard. His brow furrowed and he looked at the other wolfkin who snickered at him. ("What just happened?") I asked Luna without taking my eyes off of him this time. She replied in an amused tone. ("The challenged usually chooses the rules of the contest. Letting him choose is a sign of high confidence... and is a tad bit disrespectful. You''ll humble him if you win and be humiliated if you lose.") ("I won''t lose,") I replied simply. Once Valkin regained his composure he growled out his next words. "No weapons or magic, only fist and claw. First to be knocked unconscious, leave the circle, or surrender loses. Prove you deserve your bride." I nodded. "Sure." He didn''t look amused but he and his friend started drawing out a circle while I waited. When he was finished he stood on the edge of the circle opposite of me. "On Norrik''s mark," he said pointing at the other wolfkin with his thumb. I just nodded and lowered my stance a little. "Fight!" the other wolfkin barked. I only took a few steps forward when the wolfkin tried to tackle me. It might have been dangerous if I had been unsteady but I only slid back an inch when he crashed into me. The guy was only a little shorter than me so our centers of gravity were about the same. Since he was also wearing metal armor, I didn''t think trying to punch him from this angle would do much. So, I just tried to push him off of me. Apparently I didn''t really know my own strength because what happened next caught everyone off guard. My shove threw Valkin off his feet and he slid almost to the edge of the other side of the circle in one motion. The wolfkin scrambled to his feet, suddenly taking the fight a lot more seriously. "The fuck?" Norrik said from the sidelines. The two feline demi-beastkin watched the exchange quietly but their expressions showed they were just as surprised as everyone else. I stepped forward and Valkin took up something that looked similar to a boxer''s stance. Taking his cue, I also took up a boxing stance from some of the movies I had seen. I was no boxer, but it didn''t take a genius to figure out I needed to protect my head, especially since it was the only part of me that was unarmored. He threw a punch that looked almost comically slow and it was only after the third time I dodged one that I realized, I was just fast now. All of the fighting I had done in the dungeon against monsters of different strengths and speeds had made me a lot more capable than I had given myself credit for. I knew I was strong, and I had felt confident I would win in a simple fistfight after all of the changes I had gone through, but I hadn''t expected this. Especially against someone who also delves dungeons like us. Rather than punch him back I decided to throw him. I caught his arm and moved with his momentum to flip him over and onto his back. He landed with a heavy thud that stole his breath from his lungs. I took a few steps away and wanted to see what he would do. After a moment of groaning, he sat up and held up an arm. "I surrender." "Really?" I asked, shocked. His expression soured. "I couldn''t hit you, you were too fast. When I tried tackling you, it felt like I had run into a wall. Instead of attacking me you just shoved me off my feet and the second time, you threw me... because you didn''t want to actually hurt me. You could have shoved me out of the circle the second time, but you were toying with me. Isn''t that right?" That wasn''t right. If I was entirely honest with myself, I just didn''t want to damage my new gloves... I glanced over at Luna who quickly replied to me through the rings. ("Just accept his surrender. You don''t have to say anything to that.") I stood up straight and nodded. "I accept your surrender." He walked over and held out his hand. "You''re stronger than you look. That armor isn''t actually for show, is it?" I took his hand and gave it a shake. "It''s new. I just got it a few days ago after we left the dungeon." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. He laughed. "I guess appearances can be deceiving then." "You aren''t the first one to learn that about me," I said with a smirk. The two snow leopardkin came closer. The slightly taller one with the darker blond hair of the two nodded at me. "It''s nice to meet you. My name is Milana, I''m the mage of our group and that is my sister Talia," she said while gesturing to the other snow leopardkin. "Nice to meet you," the sister said with a nod. "I''m our group''s scout. I''m sorry about all of that, our leader Valkin doesn''t like working with people if he doesn''t know how strong they are." "It''s not a big deal. I was warned that I would have to fight a few people off when the two of us got engaged. I''m Helena, I''m a... skirmisher? I guess? You should probably talk with Maxwell about the details. I''m still working on my draconic." Talia nodded. "Ah, that perhaps explains the accent. I''m not sure where to place it. Where are you from?" "I''m a traveler, that''s all I''ll say..." I replied. Over the last few days, we talked a bit about what I should say to people if they asked about my background and I was told to just be vague about it rather than lie. A lot of hunters apparently have complicated backgrounds so it was common enough and accepted for people to not give many details about their past. "Of course, I apologize for being nosy," she replied with a smile. I managed to sneak back over to Luna who took my hand and smiled while leaning her head against me. ("You looked very gallant, fighting for our place there,") she said. ("Did you enjoy watching me fight?") ("I did. It''s one thing to watch you fight, and another to watch you fighting for me,") she said as her tail swayed. ("I was surprised how easy that was,") I told her. ("Like I said before, we''re strong, Helena. I''m not physically strong in the way that would satisfy the kinds of contests that would be required if I were our dominant, but as a hunter? All of us are well above average, even Aria.") ("I see.") Our little fight over hierarchy seemed to smooth things over a lot and everyone in the other group was suddenly friendly and helpful. Even Iris looked peppier and relieved that we wouldn''t be continuing to fight or be on edge with each other now that we''ve broken the ice. It was odd, despite the fight starting with a lot of hostility, everyone was treating it as... just part of getting to know one another. I wonder if this was more of a hunter thing or a beastkin thing. It seemed to me that he may have been using the contest over Luna to gauge our strength rather than actually being interested in our relationship. Milana, the snow-leopard mage, approached the two of us again. "I''d like to talk with you about your magic," she said to Luna. I cleared my throat. "Luna is mute, so I''ll speak for her. We use telepathy rings to communicate, so I can relay any answers she has for you." Milana''s eyes traveled between us and Luna nodded to my words. ("Tell her that, while I''m mute, I shouldn''t be at any disadvantage compared to others because of my equipment,") Luna told me. I relayed the message for her. Milana nodded. "That''s fortunate to know. I''m focused on ice and water magic. I take it from your aura and sash that you specialize in fire magic?" "Yes, but I am planning to work at improving my own water magic on this trip as well," I relayed for Luna. "Hmm... I wouldn''t mind giving you some tips, but it may be difficult if you cannot reply easily. Unless you wouldn''t mind?" she finished by directing the question at me. I shook my head. "I wouldn''t mind continuing to speak for Luna. She still helps translate words for me into draconic when I need the help. I don''t mind helping her communicate in turn." "An interesting use for telepathy rings," she noted. "A happy accident," I replied. They spent some time continuing to speak about strategy while I dutifully relayed Luna''s words to the snow leopard beastkin. It was nice to be helpful to Luna after all the time she had translated for me. Iris the mousegirl came running back. I hadn''t seen when she had left, but she made a point to get everyone''s attention when she came back. "We''re leaving! Everyone needs to be in the wagons as soon as possible!" I looked around and it was true that she wasn''t the only runner trying to corral everyone onto their wagons. Some of the lead wagons were already moving in position to leave. All of us had to cut our conversations short and we began to load up and get ready to go. Luckily the wagon we would be sharing wasn''t too cramped for the ten of us. The inside of it was divided nicely in half for our two groups. That might make our side a bit more crowded, especially since I''m so huge in this armor, but Luna was so often glued to my side that I didn''t see it being an issue. I had wondered if she would feel it necessary to create some healthy distance between the two of us in front of strangers but that didn''t seem to be the case. Other than sharing a tent, our public displays of affection seemed like they wouldn''t be a problem after the duel. The worst we got was a little snickering from the boys on the other side of the wagon. After I decisively defeated Valkin though, it seemed good-natured rather than mean. Less than ten minutes later we were rolling down the road. The wagons had some form of suspension from what I could tell but it wasn''t going to be the most comfortable trip even despite that. The wagon rocked and bumped along the road but no one seemed to complain about it. I could see myself being the first one to complain by the time we made our first rest stop for the day though, I wonder if my regeneration would make my ass hurt less after a trip like this. Luna seemed pleased to be cuddling me in the corner of the wagon despite the rough ride. It''s not like there was a ton of privacy but we were at least tucked behind one of the crates. Everyone knew what we were doing, but if any of them had a problem with it, none of them said anything. It''s not like there was anything better for us to do other than wait around and talk. I had gone on a few road trips through the United States as a kid so this wasn''t totally a new experience for me but these wagons didn''t even have windows. We could leave the large loading door open but it was cold enough that I got the feeling that idea would be voted down. I didn''t really feel the cold but I knew that Piper and Maxwell seemed to dislike the snow. Well, I''ll just have to continue making out with Luna while we wait for the first pit stop. Woe is me. Chapter 85

<~> Chapter 85 I thought I would enjoy the two-week-long trip it would take to get to Ironcastle by making out with my girlfriend the entire way, but... It got boring after a while. I had been enjoying myself, don''t get me wrong, but after several hours a day for the fourth day in a row... it got kinda old. The trip in general had gotten rather boring. It was a crazy contrast to the dungeon where each day had been a constant chain of fights interspersed with looking through loot and eating the various monsters we found. This trip felt excruciatingly mundane by comparison where the highlight of the day was setting up a watch rotation when we finally stopped for the night. I hadn''t even thought to pick up a cheap novel to keep me company on the trip! Actually, are books affordable in this world? I didn''t even know... nor would I have an easy time reading one for that matter. That was why I was so excited when something finally happened. As we continued to roll along in the late afternoon Iris suddenly sat up with her ears perked and her eyes wide. I had been able to hear all of the annoying whistles that the caravan used to send messages between each other and after the third one I started to tune them all out since they didn''t seem to pertain to me... until now. "Everyone! The lead wagon is signaling danger! Get read¡ª" The wagon suddenly rocked to a short stop and all of the bags and trinkets people had left out violently slid across the floor. None of us had been standing but some of the hunters in the other group had been napping so the shock harshly rocked them awake. Only moments later, everyone was on their feet and ready to go. Maxwell slid the wagon door open and all of us exited the wagon to the sand covered road. Aria had quickly climbed up to the top of the wagon and had her bow drawn before all of us had finished exiting. The only one who stayed behind to wait was Iris. I looked around and it seemed that we weren''t the only ones confused by our sudden stop. Everyone in the train behind us didn''t know what was happening yet either based on their looks of confusion. It didn''t look like we were being attacked as of yet. ("Do you see anything, Aria?") I asked her. ("The front wagon has some external damage and one of the wheels is broken, but it looks like all of the bison are okay, if a little spooked.") She paused for a second before continuing. ("I see animal tracks leading to the forest but I can''t identify them from here.") "Let''s go see why they blew the danger whistle," Maxwell said as he took lead of our group. "Valkin, have your group patrol the convoy. Aria, you stay up there and continue to scout, Luna will stay here and protect the wagon. You two, come with me. Helena, get your weapon ready." I materialized my axe into my hand like I had practiced several times since receiving my new storage ring. I had gotten used to controlling the amount of magic I was leaking out with Luna''s help, but it made intentionally activating items feel weird. I just wasn''t used to it yet. Even if I was comfortable with it though, it would be difficult to take my weapon out mid-combat. I did have the advantage of using my claws when I was transformed, but transitioning from using my claws to using my axe while in the middle of a fight would take a lot of practice and would still be on a long enough of delay to make it a risky maneuver. For now, it made more sense to equip myself beforehand when possible. Resting the comfortable weight on my shoulder, I hurried after Maxwell. I could smell blood before I could see it, and there was... something else familiar. I looked into the trees that followed along the road we had been taking through the forested mountains. My lantern didn''t go deep enough for me to penetrate through the trees so I couldn''t see any monsters from here. Once we had gotten to the front of the wagon, the blood became more obvious. The human coachman of the lead wagon had a gigantic gash through his gut and he had fluid, probably blood, in one of his lungs from what I could tell by the sound of his breathing. Piper immediately began healing the man without a word. Her healing magic was visibly more effective since she had received her new bracer. The man began to cough out the blood and it quickly began to clear from his airways with Piper''s healing. A man who may as well have been dead was almost completely healed back to normal in a matter of minutes. Maxwell was talking with the drakken man that had been with the injured human on the coachman''s seat while I walked away to look at the tracks that had been left. The instincts that had remained quiet through my time in the city flared back up again and I could instantly tell what I was looking at. Umber hound footprints. I looked up into the trees and scanned for any movement. They were probably gone now, that''s what my instincts told me a pack of umber hounds would do in this situation, but the human side of me was paranoid and wanted to keep watching. I turned to Maxwell when he crunched through the snow toward me. "The drakken said that wild animals took Korr''tak with him. That''s kind of a problem for us, we''ll have to go into the forest to try to get him back if he''s still alive." I grimaced and looked back down at the tracks. Was I sure about this? I looked over my shoulder and then over to Maxwell. "Cover me for a second." I put my hood up and faced away from all of the people watching while Maxwell crouched down next to the footprints I was looking at. I carefully shifted just my head into that of an umber hound. This partial shifting was hard to maintain, especially my head, but it would be better than shifting all the way in front of witnesses. Leaning forward I took in the scent of the footprint. It was still fresh so there would be some other scents mixed into whichever one left it here. Tracking things this way normally left me feeling a bit embarrassed, but the situation was so serious that I let the thought pass. "Three," I told Maxwell. "Two of them are adolescents and... the female is pregnant." I intentionally reverted my face back before looking at him. "Umber hounds." Maxwell looked back at me with a grim expression. "Are you sure? There haven''t been any recent sightings of umber hounds in this forest." I nodded. "I''m sure now that I''ve gotten their scent." "Why would they take Korr''tak alive?" "I''m not sure. Maybe to... feed the female? I get the sense that only two of them were here." "He might still be alive then," Maxwell said with a nod. "If that''s the case then we need to try and rescue him and... perhaps put down the umber hounds if we can. We can''t let the population grow this close to the road between Fallow and Ironcastle." Stolen novel; please report. While sighing, I got to my feet. I didn''t know how I felt about killing the umber hounds. Should it feel wrong to kill them or am I justified in doing it to protect the road? My umber hound instincts told me that I should just leave them alone if I don''t want their territory... But then again, they''re monsters, not animals... right? "Regardless, we need to get Korr''tak back alive, that means going into their den. I can track them well enough in my wolf form but that means leaving the caravan," I said. Maxwell nodded. "That''s fine. Attempting to rescue him will make sense to the caravan and presuming we can handle the umber hounds, it shouldn''t take us long to return whether he''s alive or dead." "Do you think we can take three of those? I was a lot weaker back then, but I barely survived my last encounter with one." "If you had asked me that when we met, I would have told you no. But the five of us have all gotten a lot stronger since then. How confident are you that they''re young?" he asked. "Really confident. Combined with my instincts, the scent is very obvious," I replied. "Good. Three young ones will be easier to fight than even one adult one. The pregnant one may be the largest threat of the three, but as long as we''re careful, we can handle them as a group." "Let''s go tell the others then." The two of us turned and walked back to the caravan. The one Piper had been healing looked completely healthy now, though he was still pretty shaken. She turned as we approached and looked up at us. "Well?" "Helena says the tracks were left by young umber hounds. There''s a good chance that Korr''tak may still be alive if we go now," Maxwell said. The drakken man who had been riding with the coachman gasped. "Umber hounds? Here? You must be mistaken!" "No," I said. "I''m absolutely sure. Look at my coat, I''ve fought one before." I turned and showed the smoky, ethereal fur that lined my hood and mantle. The man puckered at that. "If there are umber hounds, we may as well count Korr''tak as already dead." "I disagree," Maxwell said, cutting off his train of thought. "Helena identified information that makes me think that he will still be alive. It will also take time to fix that wheel anyway," he said gesturing to the lopsided wagon. The human man looked back and forth between the two arguing men. "But what will happen if you leave? They took Korr''tak in a flash! We need you to stay here and protect the caravan!" "That''s why we have two groups," Piper interjected. "One group goes to save him, the other group stays here to protect the caravan. We''ve been traveling for days without any issues. If we go to take care of the umber hounds, there shouldn''t be anything left to threaten you while we''re away." The formerly injured man gasped. "You''re going too!? I would have died if you hadn''t been here! You can''t go!" Piper frowned at him and made the human shrink away from her. "If I hadn''t been here, you''d be dead. Just like Korr''tak may die on the way back if I''m not there to heal him immediately." The drakken cleared his throat. "We should put this to a vote among the wagon owners. It would be nice to get Korr''tak back but they should have a say in whether or not we attempt this rescue. We need to keep in mind everyone''s safety, Korr''tak would understand that." Piper scoffed. "You''re just trying to save your own tail by abandoning your friend." The drakken looked enraged by the comment so Maxwell made a point to step in between them. "That''s only fair, go assemble them by the middle wagon and all of us will talk about what we''re doing. At the very least we need to repair the wheel before we can depart again. That will give us time to set out on a rescue mission if everyone agrees." His anger simmered down and he stomped away in a huff. Piper turned to her brother and raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure it''s wise to let them vote on it? Korr''tak was our employer. We get paid either way but leaving him to die is... not something I''d like to consider." Maxwell pulled us away from the coachman who decided he would rather wait inside the unstable wagon than risk being left alone outside. Once we reached a good enough distance from it he shook his head. "We''ll go regardless. Best case, the vote goes our way and we can go without any grumbling. Worse case, our group will go when we''re not on watch. It wouldn''t be the first time we stayed up through a watch and we''ve been sitting idle and resting for days. The delay may mean the difference between his life and death though." We started walking toward the center wagon where a group had already been collecting. Piper shook her head. "I don''t like it. If you think he''s alive we should go now, not after he''s dead." "I agree, but things are never that simple," Maxwell said with a sigh. There was already an argument happening between the remaining owners and the drakken man we had been talking to. It wasn''t obvious to me who was winning but it sure looked animated. Valkin was standing nearby listening to the argument but the rest of his team was still patrolling. "We should go try and save him, I''ll go too." His comment just created more of an uproar about who would protect the caravan while we were gone. I hoped they could iron this out soon because I didn''t know how long Korr''tak would last. Chapter 86

<~> Chapter 86 After what felt like an hour of arguing and back and forth, the consensus of the group of caravan owners was that we should send someone in to save Korr''tak, but not all of the hunters. That started the second round of arguments though. Who do we send on the rescue mission? Too large a group would leave the caravan vulnerable, too small of a group wouldn''t be able to deal with the umber hounds if we ran into them. And the biggest problem? More than half of the caravan owners vehemently refused to allow Piper to go along for the rescue mission. Above all else, they didn''t want to risk the only healer on this escort trip. They would apparently rather let Korr''tak die than let Piper go along and risk not coming back. This meant that I would have to go, I was planning on doing so anyway, but my ability to heal on my own would make all the difference. The problem with that is Valkin, the leader of their group had begun to insist that he go as well. It would be best if I could do this with my own team so that I would be free to shapeshift at my leisure, instead, I''ll have to either do everything in my human form or reveal my ability to shift. Neither sounded like a good plan against three umber hounds, adolescent or not. ("I should go,") Luna told me. ("I have some healing potions that we found in the dungeon. It should be helpful in lieu of a healer.") "Luna and I are going," I told the group. "I''ve fought an umber hound before and Luna''s magic will be helpful." I paused to sigh. "Since Valkin insists on going too we should probably bring at least two more people with us. Maxwell?" I asked turning toward him. He grimaced. "If we''re going into the den of an umber hound, my skills won''t be as useful. It would be hard to maneuver my shield in a... cramped place like a cave." I... don''t think he ever had any issues with the other places we fought together but if he didn''t want to go I wouldn''t force him. "I''ll go," the other wolfkin, Norrik, said. "I''m also a defender, if your defender isn''t confident in there, I''m the better choice." I sighed. The more people from their team that go, the harder it will be to hide my shifting. "I''ll be our fifth," Aria suddenly said. "I''m a good tracker, it''ll make it easier to find him." She tilted her head to the sky. "There hasn''t been any more snowfall today, the tracks should still be traceable." "That''s plenty! That only leaves four people with us!" one of the draco owners said, butting into the conversation. Valkin nodded. "This group will be plenty and it will leave you with a balanced team to protect the caravan too. We''ll get him and come right back." The draco grumbled. "Fine, but if your group isn''t back by sun-up tomorrow, we''re leaving without you!" I nodded. "We''ll be back by then, count on it." "Give me a small amount of time to talk with my team, Helena," Valkin said to me. "Sure, we''ll be ready soon too. Meet us near the front of the caravan," I replied. The group of merchants dispersed and we hunters split into our own groups to talk. Piper looked at Maxwell. "Are you sure it''s a good idea to send Luna without either of us there?" "Luna volunteered for it," I told them. Piper hesitated. "It''s not that I don''t trust you, Helena. I do, but we haven''t left her side since the three of us left our hometown together." Luna stepped forward and put her hand on Piper''s shoulder before talking to all of us through the rings. ("I''ll be okay, Piper. Helena will protect me. All of us have seen how much she can survive, we''ll be fine.") Piper frowned, then pulled Luna into a hug. "Just come back in one piece, little spitfire. We''ve been through too much to lose you here." ("I''ll be fine,") Luna insisted but she smiled and hugged Piper back all the same. Aria stood awkwardly by Maxwell and he turned to face her when Luna and Piper pulled away from each other. "You be careful too, Aria. I''m counting on you to bring these two back in one piece." Aria smiled. "As if these two need my help. But don''t worry, we''ll look after each other." She almost looked like she was going to go in for a hug herself but she ended up stepping away before committing. The three of us were first to make it back to the front of the caravan but the other two from their team followed pretty shortly afterward. Once all of us were together, I led Aria to the tracks. Thankfully, the snow had stopped for the last few hours so the tracks wouldn''t be lost yet. I primarily tracked by scent and sound so we would need to rely on Aria to find Korr''tak as long as I couldn''t shift in front of the others. I wasn''t planning on holding my transformation back if I needed it to fight the umber hounds, but until then I would keep my secret to myself. That scary drakken in the city had warned me not to show up in stories or reports and I didn''t want to piss him off if I could avoid it. As the four of us followed Aria through the woods, Valkin turned to me. "What kind of fighting style do you use against monsters? I don''t see any weapons on you. You''re as sturdy as a golem so I wouldn''t be upset if you fought unarmed, but I didn''t see you take a stance right away when we fought earlier." I glanced at him before shifting my eyes back to Aria up front. "I primarily use a two-handed axe. Right now I''m keeping it in a spatial ring." He nodded. "A two-handed axe is slow but effective. You said you''ve fought umber hounds before, how fast are they?" I hummed in thought for a moment before answering. "Pretty fast but I was weaker when I fought it. I''m not entirely sure if I could give you a good answer to that. These ones are adolescents too so they will be slower and weaker than the one I fought back then." Norrik snorted. "I still can''t believe a human like you took down an umber hound before. How many did you hunt it with?" The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. I sighed and shook my head. "I was alone but I got really lucky. It jumped on top of me and practically stabbed itself to death on my knife. I nearly died." The wolfkin stopped and looked at me aghast. "If you almost died what makes you so confident now?" "I''m immeasurably stronger now than I was when I fought it. I''m confident that I shouldn''t have any trouble with another one and adolescents will be even weaker. We can take them, I''m more concerned about you two since I don''t know how you fight either." Norrik fell back into our group and we continued to move forward again. "I use a mace and a shield. Smaller than the one that your friend has, but I''m more maneuverable too. I can use magic to ground and brace myself when taking attacks. That in combination with my shield, means I can shrug off most attacks without taking any damage. Umber hound hide is tough so my mace should be good against this enemy." "I''m a duelist," Valkin offered. "My weapon of choice is a long thin sword called a setique, it''s best against humanoid monsters but it''s good for piercing through monster''s joints as well. I''m not sure if my weapon will be able to pierce umber hound hide, but even if it can''t, I have a backup club I can use." "Luna is a fire mage, she''ll mostly be on support and crowd control. We''ll need her help to light the place since umber hounds fight in the dark. If we can''t handle them with our weapons, she can probably kill them with her charged magic," I said. "Aria is a scout and an archer." The two of them nodded, Aria''s skill set pretty much spoke for itself. Either the arrows will pierce the umber hound''s hide or they won''t. Aria signaled us to stop and spoke to me through the rings. ("We''re getting close. Tell the others to be quiet from here on out. I can see the rocky outcropping where they must have made their den.") I relayed the information to the others and then Aria fell back to us and we continued forward into the cave. From here the footprints were visible in the muddy dirt. The cave was warm enough inside that the snow at the mouth of the cave was melted and faint trails of vapor flowed out from it. The footprints were overlapped so much here that it was clear that the umber hounds traveled in and out of this entrance often. As we got closer I started to feel a bit of the humidity from the cave and it smelled oddly fragrant, like fresh plants mixed with the smell of hot water. The mouth of the cave was wide enough to walk through in pairs. "I think there must be an underground lake in there," Aria commented. I didn''t know any words that would translate to hotspring but that''s the implication I got. "Who should go first?" Valkin asked me. Quickly realizing that he had ceded leadership to me, probably from the result of our duel, I looked over our group. "Me and Norrik first, then Valkin and Aria. Luna will be in the rear and make sure nothing comes in behind us. I''ll tell you through the rings if we need your eyes up front." Everyone nodded and took the positions I laid out. I got the feeling Norrik didn''t like me much but he didn''t balk at the order I chose. I opened my lantern a little to let more of the actual light filter through. I couldn''t see it with this blindfold on but I thought it would help the others and it made my vision a bit more clear. "Can everyone see well enough with this lantern?" I asked. "Will the lantern give us away to the umber hounds?" Valkin asked. I turned to Valkin in confusion. "Umber hounds have glowing eyes that let them see in the dark. You... didn''t know that?" "I''ve never fought one," he said defensively. "I''ve fought other kinds of hounds and wolves though." Shaking my head, I turned back to the cave. "It won''t make much difference. We need to see in there and our chances of seeing the glow of their eyes is just as likely as their chance to see the glow of my lantern." Norrik and I led the group into the cave side by side. Luna periodically lit match-sized fires to test the air quality as we progressed. It didn''t smell like anything flammable was in here but it was hard to tell. Luna assured me that she knew what she was doing so I trusted her to continue checking for us. She also told me that the magic fire she uses in combat shouldn''t create smoke that would hurt us or eat up the air that we needed to breathe. I passed that along to the others. If the umber hounds were living in here there shouldn''t be much to worry about in terms of air quality, but it was best to check regardless. I started to pull out my weapon, but I realized there would be a problem with it in here. It was too big. I was going to be forced to use a sword. At least that would allow me to use my giant shield at the same time. I pulled out the long sword Maxwell had taught me to wield. I wasn''t as comfortable with it as I had become with the axe, but it was good enough. "I thought you used a two-handed axe?" Valkin whispered. "I do... but I don''t think it will be easy to use in this hallway," I replied. "Using your shield is better anyway. It''ll make it easier to protect everyone," Norrik said. "Shh, I hear something," I told the others. I closed my eyes and tilted my head. It sounded like whimpering. If I was hearing it right, that was a good sign. It meant that Korr''tak was alive. When I felt confident I wasn''t just hearing things I turned to the others. "I hear someone, they''re alive and it sounds like they''re awake. Like muffled crying." Norrik perked his wolf ears and they swiveled around listening for any sounds. "I don''t hear anything, are you sure you''re not making this up? Human''s ears aren''t supposed to be that good." "I think Helena will be able to prove it soon enough, there''s a fork in the cave up ahead. I can see it from here," Aria told the group. We continued forward a bit, and sure enough. There was a fork leading in two different directions. I closed my eyes and listened deeply. My hearing is much better in my wolf form but it''s still plenty good enough to hear the echoing sounds bounce around in the cave. "It''s that way," I said pointing. "How sure are you?" Valkin asked. "Nine-tenths," I replied. "Trust her," Aria said. "I promise she''s not making shit up. Her hearing is that good." Valkin turned and looked Aria up and down. "If you''re saying it then I''ll trust you. A fellow beastkin wouldn''t say a human''s hearing was that good if it wasn''t." I shook my head. "Whatever, it''s this way," I said leading the group to the left. Chapter 87

<~> Chapter 87 The five of us crept through the tunnel. After another ten minutes of walking, I could see the tunnel opening up into a large cavern with an underground hot spring lake. Come to think of it, wouldn''t volcanic soil make things grow better? Why was the city we left called Fallow if this mountain chain has active volcanos among them? Maybe I''m overthinking it, I don''t think hot springs have to be around volcanos but I''m not sure. My thoughts were cut short by Valkin. "There''s light up ahead," he whispered. Aria flashed a hand signal that meant something along the lines of ''stay quiet, monsters ahead'' to the two of them. They took the hint and stopped talking. Aria shook her head in annoyance. ("These two act less experienced than we were led to believe,") she told me through the rings. ("I can''t really be the one to throw stones in a glass house,") I replied. She paused and turned around to look at me. ("What the hell does that mean?") ("Uh, I''m not that experienced myself. I can''t criticize them for that,") I said. Aria turned back around and huffed. ("Whatever.") I signaled for everyone else to wait. ("Luna, I''m going to close my lantern and go up ahead. Light something up for everyone else.") ("Sure. Be careful,") she told me. I twisted the knob on the lantern and Luna cast a spell I hadn''t seen before. A dozen tiny flickers of candlelight lit up around them. The lights individually weren''t very bright but together they lit the passage more than it seemed like they should. Gripping the strap of my shield and the hilt of my sword, I proceeded forward toward the opening. As I reached the opening of the cavern I heard growling, I immediately knew something had given us away. I lifted my shield just in time to block a tackle from one of the umber hounds. My left arm buzzed in discomfort and my boots slid back in the dirt, but I held my ground. "They know we''re here, come help!" I called out. Fortunately for me, there was enough gravel and sand in the dirt of the cave that allowed me to track the umber hounds'' steps from behind my shield without looking. Two of them were here, the adolescents if my guess was correct. I shoved the other one away with my shield before it could tackle me too and pushed deeper into the open area. A blaze of fire formed a ring around us and brightly lit up the cave for the others. Luna''s magic obscured my magic vision of the rest of the area so I wasn''t able to look for the pregnant one or to where Korr''tak may be right now. My umber hound instincts screamed at me to face these whelps in my wolf form but I suppressed that desire, mollifying myself with the thought of defeating them at a handicap. Instead, I reopened my lantern as much as I could to bathe the area with light and help with mana regeneration. Valkin dashed in next, his thin sword making a distinct sound as the blade cut through the air and swiped at one of the hounds. The umber hounds were fast though and evaded all of his thrusts. At the moment they were at a stalemate, unable to break through each other''s defenses. That advantage was improved further when Norrik came to back him up. Trusting the two of them to distract that one, I turned my focus to the other before it could come around and flank anyone. A quiet thwip preceded the pained yelp that echoed through the cave as one of Aria''s arrows found the other hound''s leg. The wound dug deep and seemed to hurt it, but it didn''t slow it down despite the hit to the monster''s leg. I slashed out at it with one of the motions Maxwell had drilled into me. It was a defensive form, suited well to his shield and sword style but my inexperience showed as I narrowly missed my target. I was a bit more... well, a lot more reckless, so the form didn''t usually suit me, but with this group composition, I was better off holding the umber hound''s attention and whittling it down rather than trying to fight it on my own. At least without my wolf form. It yelped in pain as a quick firebolt splashed against its other side. The hit got the hound''s attention and it turned to Luna to bark at her. It looked like it was about to dash in her direction but I took advantage of its distraction and made it regret taking its eyes off of me. My sword sunk into its chest and splashed blood onto the floor of the cave. It hopped away from me in surprise and the moment the distance between us widened, Aria was ready with another arrow. She expertly tagged the wolf again, unfortunately, her arrow wasn''t able to hurt it any more than it had last time. My instincts screamed at me to finish off this weakling. The umber hound had dragged me to the edge of the circle after the three of us had put it on the back foot. Its demeanor changed a lot once it had nowhere else to run. It began to snarl and growl a lot more but my umber hound instincts told me that it was doing anything it could because it was cornered, he knew he was going to lose. Another firebolt hit him in the ass, Luna''s magic had become noticeably faster since the last time we fought. Her quick spells came in handy, now that she didn''t need to spend so much time casting the smaller spells, they came at more opportune times more often. The umber hound lurched forward from the spray of fire and I used the break in its guard to throw it off its feet with my shield. Once it was on its side I stomped on its head and thrust my sword through its neck and held it there till it bled out. Weak. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. It wasn''t until after I caught myself watching it slowly die that I realized how different I felt. I hadn''t blinked, hadn''t hesitated to kill something that was so much like me. My ''instincts'' egged me on and encouraged the seed of ruthlessness inside of me. It was getting harder to tell the instincts apart from my own thoughts. Looking at the umber hound closely, its inky black fur looked a bit different from the one that had almost killed me but it was unmistakably an umber hound. My body didn''t even yearn to tear it open and find its heart, I have already eaten one of those. I tore my eyes away from the dead hound on the ground and looked up at the two other hunters. The remaining male umber hound was nearly defeated as well, blood trickled from its joints and it limped on its front right limb, but it wasn''t quite dead yet. Valkin and Norrik moved in perfect tandem, when the umber hound attacked Norrik stepped in and took the hit. His body flashed with magic and for a moment he looked connected to the ground to my magic sight. The hound bounced off of the man''s powerful stance and the magic released him immediately after. All of that happened in the space of a second, Norrik was accurately predicting the timing of each attack and blocking each hit without taking any damage from them. Each time the monster bounced off of Norrik''s guard, Valkin dashed in and took advantage of the moment to get in a quick and accurate stab into one of the hound''s weak spots. He didn''t seem to be going for the face or the chest, he was mostly working at disabling the hound''s limbs where the monster''s fur was the thinnest. The two of them shared a methodical style that seemed well suited for each other and it would have been only a matter of time before the two of them won if it hadn''t been for the last umber hound. A loud howl echoed through the chamber, one that wasn''t too dissimilar from the call of a wolf. I recognize it as a call of sorrow. A response to the mate that it had already lost. I braced myself and held up my shield, sure that I was about to be attacked in retaliation, but I wasn''t its first target. A larger female hound, pregnant but still an adolescent herself, leapt through the fire and collided with Norrik. The man''s powerful defensive stance was strong, but it required preparation and timing and the wolf had caught him off guard. The man had lifted his shield in time but he had been thrown off his feet and tumbled backward, my ears heard the telltale sign of that sickening crack that meant his shield arm was now broken. Before Norrik had finished rolling from the attack, the umber hound turned away from him and began to run toward Valkin. *Shit, she''s trying to take out the weakest members of my pack first. Then I realized the position that she had just put me in. Norrik was down, Valkin wouldn''t be able to defend himself from her next attack, and I was all the way over here. I was too far away to save him... if I didn''t shift. I only hesitated for a fraction of a second, my body took on the familiar form of a bipedal umber hound and my powerful legs launched me across the arena of fire in time to barely knock Valkin away and catch the female in her charge. She snarled at me and I snarled back as she wrestled her way out of my grip. My ears caught Valkin scramble to his feet and narrowly dodge the other male umber hound trying to finish him off while he was still prone. Knowing he was alive was enough for me though, I couldn''t spare any more attention for him, the female was too dangerous to allow myself a lapse of attention. She leapt at me again and I dodged out of the way this time. I could block her with my shield but I didn''t think I would win this way without my axe, I had been forced to drop my sword and I wouldn''t be able to hold it like this anyway. I was better off keeping to my claws, the shield would only get in my way. I could hear the shots coming from Aria''s bow and I could feel the usual warmth of Luna''s magic forming a fire circle, but it wasn''t centered on the one I was fighting. They were working with Valkin to take down the other one. For now this fight was between the two of us. I barked out a challenge and she growled in return before leaping at me again. I sidestepped her pounce and slashed at her with my claws. They tore through her hide and spilled her fragrant blood on the ground, but her wound immediately began to visibly heal. I jumped at her as she was turning to face me. Taking advantage of the height I had on the other wolf, I shoved her to the ground and let my claws bite into her. This would be a battle of attrition but I could tell I was faster than her. She rolled back to her feet and began to try and circle me. I circled her back the other direction and the two of us began looking for an opening. I blinked and she dashed at me again, grabbing my left wrist in her jaws and crushing the bones before trying to tear my arm off by shaking her head. It hurt and I yelped but it also gave me an opening. My instincts SCREAMED at me to pull away, but I knew that would be a mistake. The human part of me knew that I needed to take advantage of this moment, I would heal but I wouldn''t get another opportunity like this so easily. Gritting my teeth I let the umber hound continue to shake and tear at my arm while I reached under its neck with my other clawed hand and tore open its throat. She flinched when I opened her throat but her fangs were too deep in my arm to pull away. After ripping a hole into its neck I reached back and wrapped my hand around her larynx and trachea before rending that apart as well. It was only at that point that I could pry the hound''s jaws off of my arm and push it to the ground again. I leaned forward and pinned its chest to the ground with my foot. It wasn''t dead yet but it was dying, I wedged the edge of my shield in its throat to keep it from healing back together. Its regeneration is powerful but it can''t heal around foreign objects. That''s how my survival knife killed it, it couldn''t get it back out and it bled to death. That was my weakness too. I looked at my arm. It was still sore and bloody from the trauma but it was already functional again. My regeneration has taken care of the delicate bones of my wrist and was already painfully popping them back in place. There was so much adrenaline flowing through my body that I barely felt the pain. It was present, I knew it was there, but it felt less important. I looked back down and grimaced when I heard the twinned heartbeats under my foot stop beating. They were dead. Valkin and the others had finished off the other umber hound with the help of my friends but he and Norrik were now staring at me warily. I slowly stepped off the corpse and slid my shield to my back. For now I just stood there and stared at them. I was afraid to shift back before my arm had completely healed, I was still unsure how good my self-healing was in my other form and I didn''t want to test it out right now. I was happy to see that they hadn''t attacked me yet at least. Let''s hope it stays that way. Chapter 88

<~> Chapter 88 Valkin raised his sword and pointed it in my direction. "What are you?" "I''m a human... mostly," I replied. "Oh fuck, it can talk," Norrik mumbled to his friend. He probably didn''t think I could hear that. "I''m still the same person you knew this entire time, even though I look like this," I said. Luna and Aria slowly walked toward me while remaining focused on the other two. They weren''t acting hostile but they were making it clear in no uncertain terms which side they would be on in a confrontation. Valkin''s eyes followed the two of them as they confidently stood next to me. Aria had an arrow nocked but hadn''t pulled it back yet and Luna would be able to cast quickly enough that it wouldn''t matter. They were outnumbered even if I wasn''t a bigger threat than normal. "Were you like this the entire time?" Norrik asked aloud. I nodded. "I was. The only reason I shifted at all was to save Valkin. I would appreciate if you stopped pointing your sword at me," I said as my eyes drifted toward him. "If you can shift like this on purpose, why haven''t you shifted back yet?" Valkin asked. I held up my bloody arm. It was almost finished healing but it wasn''t there quite yet. "I want this to heal all the way first." Slowly, I turned my head toward the draco. "I can still hear him breathing, but I don''t think he''s in good shape." "Not until you shift back," Valkin replied. "Do you think this was some kind of trap?" Valkin whispered to Norrik. "I don''t know, did she really save you earlier?" he whispered back. "I''m not sure, she shoved me out of the way before it attacked, so maybe." Valkin slowly lowered his sword but he didn''t break his stance yet. "That was when I was sent tumbling?" he quietly asked. Valkin grunted in the affirmative. "I think she''s telling the truth. We were practically blind in the tunnel, if this was just a ploy to kill us she would have done it already," Norrik told him. "Still, I would feel more comfortable if she could change back." I looked down at my arm and inspected the wound. It looked good now. "I''m shifting back," I called out. I let the transformation revert until I was in my human form wearing my normal armor and gear again. I tightened the strap of my shield so it sat more comfortably before holding my hands out in an open gesture. "Are we fine now?" I called out. The two beastkin men looked at each other before shrugging and putting away their weapons. When they relaxed their guard I went to collect the sword I had left lying on the ground before heading over with the others to examine Korr''tak. Valkin and Norrik kept their distance from me and continued to be wary, but they were no longer acting defensive at least. "Did you break your arm in that tumble?" I asked Norrik. He pursed his lips and weighed his response before answering. "Yes. How did you know?" It seems his curiosity won out. I tapped the ear that was facing them. "I could hear the crack when you hit the ground. It didn''t sound pretty." "Piper can heal you when we get back... Provided you keep Helena quiet." Aria''s eyes searched Norrik''s expression while waiting for his response. "This is a secret? From who?" he asked. "Everyone. The only reason I used it was because Valkin would have died if I didn''t. That umber hound put me in a bad position and the only thing I could do to save you at that point was cover the distance in that form," I replied. "What about the two redheads?" Valkin asked. I shook my head. "No, they know too. But that''s it. I''d like to be able to trust you two to keep a secret." "Is that a threat," Norrik asked with a raised eyebrow. There was a long pause before I answered. "No. It''s not a threat. It''s a request. What would be the point of shifting to save Valkin if I just killed you both right after?" "There he is," Aria said, pointing at the crumpled draco on the ground. I crouched down next to him and looked over his wounds. He was in bad shape, lots of bruising, both of his legs looked broken, and he was unconscious. The only way we could tell he was alive at all was his shallow breathing and the occasional whimper and whine that came out. Luna pulled open her backpack and retrieved the satchel we had found in the dungeon. She slipped out one of the potions and got closer to Korr''tak. She popped the cork and began to trickle a small amount of it into his throat while rubbing it and making him swallow. "Is that going to be able to heal him? Actually, is that safe to do while he''s asleep?" I asked her. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ("It should be enough to keep him alive, but we''ll still need to bring him to Piper. He doesn''t need to swallow it exactly, as long as I go slow he won''t drown in it. Piper''s magic can give us a better idea of how badly he''s hurt and what she needs to do to heal him up the rest of the way. It''s good that there''s not much blood though, we should be able to bring him back like this.") "Why did they bring him here alive?" Valkin asked, oblivious to Luna''s response to me. "They were going to keep him alive to eat later. The big female was pregnant," I said pointing to the umber hound corpse off in the distance with my thumb. "How do you know it was pregnant?... Actually, no. Don''t tell me that. I''ll just take your word for it," Valkin said exasperated. "What about the umber hound corpses?" Aria asked. "We came here to rescue Korr''tak, but those are worth a lot of money." "I''ll carry Korr''tak. Norrik is injured, you three can bring back the corpses," Valkin suddenly announced. Luna finished administering the vial of healing potion to him. The unconscious draco''s breathing evened out and even some of his worst looking bruises seemed to fade. She put her stuff away and made sure he was lying flat. I gestured to him. "His legs are broken so you''ll need to be careful with him. Also, make sure you support his head too. We should probably be using a... uh, something to carry him on but I don''t have anything like that." "You can use the spare tarp in my backpack. Valkin, you''ll have to dig it out for me," Norrik told him. Valkin glanced at me. "That would mean I would need help carrying him though..." "I''ll do it," Aria volunteered. "I''m strong enough to help you lift this guy, Helena will need to be the one to carry those corpses if we''re planning on bringing back all three. What do you think?" she finished looking at me. "That''s fine with me. Let''s see if I can handle them though. They weren''t light monsters." While they were preparing a makeshift stretcher I went over and attempted to lift the corpses over my shoulder. They were big, bulky, heavy, and awkward, but I managed to get all of them over my shoulders. "Are we sure this is a good idea? Maybe we should take two trips," I said while awkwardly carrying the bodies over to them. Aria shook her head. "No, those people were too scared. They won''t wait for us to make another trip. It was amazing we convinced them to let us rescue Korr''tak without any trouble." "Do... we get a cut of their materials?" Norrik asked. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow, but something about it made me grin. "Sure. But I get dibs on the big one." "Then I''ll help you with one of the smaller ones, put one over my shoulder," Norrik said, pointing at his back with his good arm. "Are you sure? Your arm is broken," I asked him incredulously. "That''s why I need help putting it on my back. I''ll be able to carry it." I looked over at Luna who just smiled and shrugged. Aria helped me put one of them over his shoulders and he held onto it with surprising ease. Tough bastard. "Let''s get out of here then, the humidity is starting to make my pants uncomfortable," Aria said. I laughed. "That''s a little too much information for me." She huffed. "It''s true though." I led the group out of the cave with two of the umber hounds on my back. The only one of us who was unencumbered for the return trip was Luna who had the least to contribute in terms of raw strength. No one complained though since she was able to use some of her fire magic to keep everyone warm. The snow had begun to fall again and the wind made things pretty frosty and cold for the others, but at least it wasn''t difficult to find our way back with my hearing. I heard one of those whistles off in the distance before I could even see the wagons. There was a bit of a fuss kicked up when we got back to the caravan but that was mostly because the first thing they saw was the corpses of the umber hounds without realizing they were dead. Valkin and Aria were quickly ushered into the lead wagon with Piper so she could look over his wounds. Once she was sure he was in stable condition she stopped to heal up Norrik''s arm so he could help get everyone ready to go. It wasn''t lost on me that both of them had made a point to stay as far away from me as possible but I didn''t know what they would do once we started moving again. We did share a wagon for the trip so it wasn''t like they could avoid me forever. I was sure that they would at least tell their party members my secret too but I was hoping that was the extent of it. Thankfully, the people we had left here had been busy repairing the front wagon''s wheel enough that we could begin to get moving again. We have been delayed here for kind of a while and everyone seemed eager to move on from here, even if that meant traveling through the night, which we usually didn''t do. Having one of us nearly killed and another abducted was enough to make this area unpalatable for them, even if we did kill the only things that would likely be a threat to us. Still, it would be better if we could make it to the next designated campsite rather than camping along the road. For now there wasn''t much for me to do so I went back to our wagon with Luna to rest. The fight hadn''t been the hardest we''ve had, but it was still pretty taxing. I was told to just pile the umber hound bodies into the snow outside of the wagon and they would be loaded up for us before we left. I slid open the door and found Iris hiding behind one of the crates holding a short dagger. When I stopped and raised my hands she visibly relaxed and put the dagger down. "Oh, it''s only you." "Are you okay?" I asked as I helped Luna into the wagon. "I wasn''t sure what was going to happen so I was just making sure a monster didn''t sneak up on me. But I don''t need to worry anymore if you two are here. Is everything okay outside?" I nodded. "Everything is fine now. Has anyone told you anything about what was happening?" She shook her head. "One of those leopardkin came in here to grab something from their bag and said that half of the group went to look for Korr''tak. Other than that I haven''t been told anything since we stopped." "All the way from back then?" I glanced and Luna before turning back. "We just got back from rescuing him, it looks like he''s going to live. Do you want to hear about it?" She nodded. "Please. What happened to Korr''tak? Was he hurt?" I started telling her what happened from when we left the wagon initially until we got back. I omitted the details about shifting during the fight, and how I found the tracks originally, but I told her most of everything else. Luna had snuggled into my side and had dozed off during the story but Iris didn''t seem bothered by her light snoring. The young mousekin was enthralled and excited to hear the entire thing. Despite the less than positive circumstances of our meeting, the kid was starting to grow on me. Chapter 89

<~> Chapter 89 The door of the wagon slid open and it was Norrik that entered first. He glanced back at his two snow leopardkin companions and started to close the door behind him. "Give me a moment to talk with Helena alone." I could see the confusion in their eyes as Norrik shut the door on their face. His eyes glanced over at the Mousekin but he didn''t seem to care that she was here. "Valkin wanted me to make sure there was... nothing to worry about concerning you. I feel like if you were going to kill us in our sleep you''d have done it by now, but he still asked me to make sure there was nothing to worry about between us." I raised an eyebrow and glanced at the young mousekin. "I''m not going to hurt any of you guys. I know my situation is a little frightening but I''m in full control of myself. There''s nothing to worry about... assuming none of you tries to kill me or my friends in my sleep first." "W-what is this about?" Iris asked. "Don''t worry about it," Norrik replied without even looking at her. "I''ll take you on your word at that since I''m not convinced all of us together couldn''t stop you if you tried anyway. Valkin and I probably would have died if you hadn''t come with us, so I have no reason to distrust you. What you did in there... spooked Valkin though so be warned. He won''t do anything but he might be a lot less friendly with you from now on." "The opposite seems true of you," I said curiously. He shrugged. "My opinion of you has improved every time I''ve seen you fight. In my book, you have gone from useless to dangerous in the span of days. Anyway, I''d better open the door back up before the sisters tear my throat out for making them wait in the cold." He turned around and opened the wagon door back up. Milana in particular looked annoyed when she climbed into the wagon. She glanced at me and the sleeping Luna before focusing back on Norrik. "What was that about? What was so important that you locked me and my sister in the cold?" Norrik grunted. "Valkin wanted me to ask her something important." "Ask her what?" Milana pressed. He shrugged. "Not important." Talia giggled at his response and Milana gritted her teeth. "You can''t be serious Norrik." "Relax Milana, it''s probably just a dumb guy thing. No need to get so irritated." Talia looked at me with a sly smile. "Valkin probably just has the hots for the big human that knocked him on his ass." She glared at her sister. "After these two have been kissing the entire trip? There''s no wa¡ª" "That probably just makes it better for him, you know how boys are. Remember when he was flirting with the two of us early on?" Talia asked. "Ugh, don''t remind me." Milana turned back to Norrik. "I doubt that''s what''s going on but I''ll drop it for now. I don''t like kept secrets though," she glanced at me. "from my teammates or my travel companions." She slumped into the spot she usually sat in during the trip. She looked pretty tired. "I figured you would tell them," I told Norrik. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "You told us not to tell anyone." "I assumed you wouldn''t keep this from your party members. I wouldn''t," I replied. "Does that count as permission then?" he asked. "Permission?" Milana asked with hostility in her tone. "As long as they agree not to tell anyone too. I would prefer not to hear a bunch of rumors spreading about me the second we reach Ironcastle. The manager of the hunter''s association in Fallow threatened to kill me if there were rumors of me hurting anyone floating around. I''d rather that not be an issue," I told him. Talia''s eyes traveled back and forth between us. "This is that serious then? I figured whatever this was would be a big deal but..." she trailed off. "Should we be worried about you hurting anyone?" Milana asked me. "No," I replied instantly. "But after you hear what Valkin has to say I''m not convinced you''ll see it the way I''d like based on how he''s acting." Norrik sighed and rubbed his face. "You don''t need to worry about her, Milana. Valkin is just being a chickenshit." His eyes glanced at Iris again before turning back to Milana. "The four of us can talk about it later in private. Trust me." Milana sighed in response and then the wagon went quiet. After a few awkward moments, I decided to ask what else was happening outside. "Where are Maxwell, Aria, and Piper?" "Piper is still looking over Korr''tak. Once she was sure he was going to be okay she fixed Norrik''s arm, but she wanted to stay with Korr''tak for a while to make sure nothing changes. He''s not awake yet, she said he''s exhausted after being dragged off like that. She also said she might stay with him while we travel tonight too. Valkin, Aria, and Maxwell are patrolling until we get moving again. It shouldn''t be too much longer," Talia replied. "Is the plan still to travel through the night?" I asked. She nodded. "Yeah, the other people in the caravan are scared, they want to get out of here as soon as possible. A few minutes later the door slid open and Valkin, Aria, and Maxwell climbed in. Valkin was still wary of me, I could see his eyes burrowing into me with his every move. Maxwell got comfortable quietly but Aria made a show of slumping down next to him. "I''m exhausted," Aria said. "They made me patrol after we got back. I''d like to have been sleeping like Luna there." I glanced down at Luna in the crook of my arm as she continued to quietly snooze. I was a little surprised at how worn out she was. Aria looked back and forth between the two groups. "Is everyone alright?" The two snow leopard sisters shared a look before Milana replied. "Everyone is still keeping us in the dark about what happened on your trip. It''s starting to get under my skin." "Ah..." Aria looked around before her eyes landed on Iris. "Are we not talking openly about it because our runner is here?" The mousekin''s ears went back. "I can''t leave, I need to listen for the whistles..." Aria shrugged. "Why don''t you just tell her Helena? She''s not going to do anything about it and most people wouldn''t even believe her." "I don''t want rumors to spread about me. The manager at the hunter''s association made things very clear about that," I replied. "I won''t tell anyone! I promise," Iris said. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Don''t get me wrong, you''re starting to grow on me, but we didn''t exactly have the best first impression." She shrunk down a little bit. "That was different..." I sighed. "What do you think Maxwell?" "They found out about you?" he asked. "I had to do it in front of Valkin and Norrik to save Valkin''s life," I replied. Milana sat up and turned to Valkin. "You came that close to dying?" Valkin''s face soured a bit more. "...I did. It was close." Maxwell turned to the mousekin kid. "We talked about how lenient Helena had been with you, you wouldn''t spit on that mercy and tell others about Helena''s secrets would you?" "The runner did something to Helena?" Talia asked with concern. Iris shrunk down as the topic of her pickpocketing came back up. "I won''t tell anyone any secrets, I swear!" I sighed and scratched the back of my head. "At this rate, paranoia will make whatever anyone''s thinking even worse. Let me wake up Luna and then we can talk about it at length." Luna hadn''t been too happy to be woken up but she took on a tone of seriousness when I explained what I was about to do. Everyone''s attention was focused on me when I removed my blindfold and opened my eyes. Milana and Talia''s eyes widened when they saw them. The wagon would be too cramped to completely shift in here so I only shifted one of my hands into a clawed arm. That got another round of gasps out of everyone. "I was nearly killed by an umber hound once. It did something to me after I barely managed to kill it. I now have the eyes of one of them, and I can shift my shape to look like an umber hound whenever I need to. It makes me faster and stronger, but for obvious reasons, I need to keep this a secret. Others would freak out if they see me like this, which is only more apparent after the way Valkin has acted since I saved his life." I let go of the partial transformation and looked over the group. Milana had an interesting look on her face that I couldn''t place. Maybe curiosity? Talia looked interested and not at all worried by the news. Iris just looked confused, it looked like she didn''t know what to make of it at all. Milana turned to Valkin. "She turned into an umber hound to save your life?" He nodded in reply. "Did she look like a normal umber hound? It looks more like swirling mana to me." Luna perked up and tapped me on the shoulder. ("She can see the mana too?") "Luna asked me if you can see the mana too," I relayed. Milana nodded. "Yes, only when you''re manifesting the shift though. Interesting. May I get a closer look?" "Milana! Look at her eyes! She''s a monster!" Valkin nearly shouted. The two snow leopardkin sisters'' eyes snapped to me to see what I would do. I just shrugged. "I''m not surprised he feels that way. The transformation even messes with my head sometimes, but I''ve gotten better at controlling it. And even when I''ve been the most out of my mind, I still protected my friends." "You probably shouldn''t have admitted that..." Aria commented. I shrugged. "I find that it''s easier to deal with things out in the open. I''ve never been a fan of secrets and half-truths." Norrik nodded. "That I agree with." "You were human before then?" Talia asked. "You weren''t an umber hound that now looks like a human?" I nodded. "I was a human before I was attacked, and I''d like to think that I''m still a human... despite that being difficult sometimes." I grabbed Luna''s hand and squeezed it gently. "You left that part of the story out?" Iris asked. I turned to her and frowned when she flinched away. "I did. I wasn''t really planning on telling everyone like this... but if I didn''t at this point, I think it would just make things worse. At least the only one who seems to have a major problem with it is Valkin." "Will you tell us the pieces you left out?" Iris asked. Looking over the group, everyone seemed interested. "Sure." I retold the story from when I entered the cave, being more descriptive of how I could hear Korr''tak echoing through the hallways. The fight went more or less the same but the story diverged from the original retelling of it when I got to the part with the female umber hound. I told them about the moment I realized she had forced me into the position of choosing to transform and save Valkin or letting him die. Norrik had just been thrown off with a broken arm and I wouldn''t have been able to do anything for him in my human form. Instead, I shifted and shoved him out of the way before she gutted him. I didn''t have any time to hesitate, either I shifted or I let him die, those were the only options and I chose to save him, knowing it would bring me trouble. "That''s how I remember it too," Norrik replied. "She was on the other side of the fire circle and I had just broken my arm. When I finished rolling the two umber hounds were wrestling. Or... whatever Helena is now. She didn''t look precisely like the other one." "What do you mean?" Milana asked him curiously. "She looked... like a large beastkin. Upright like a person. The way some of those in the north can use magic to increase their size. She wasn''t on all fours like the other umber hound." ("There are beastkin that can grow larger?") Luna asked. I relayed her question to the group. He nodded. "Valkin and I traveled with this bearkin northerner for a while before we met those two," he said gesturing to the snow leopardkin sisters. "He used it a couple times but said it made him so hungry that he could only do it if he had enough in his stomach. He only used it in emergencies because it cost him a lot of money in food." Norrik had gotten a wistful smile on his lips. "Shifting doesn''t make me hungrier, but powering my regeneration makes me famished," I said. "That makes sense," Milana agreed. "Magic can have a toll on the body for mages as well, powering something like regeneration using your own internal magic needs to come from somewhere." "So that''s it then?" Valkin asked. "We''re going to pretend this is normal and not worry about her killing us in our sleep? Or doing something else?" Norrik shrugged and faced everyone else. "I''ve been telling him, if she wanted to kill us in our sleep she could have done it by now. Instead, she''s more interested in making out with her fianc¨¦ there." Luna and I exchanged looks, both blushing. "I used to be afraid of her too," Maxwell said interjecting. "But she''s saved our lives right from the moment I met her and many times since. Monster or not, she''s on our side. Keep her secrets and she won''t have any reason to hurt any of you. The rest doesn''t matter." The conversation more or less died at that point. Not even Valkin tried to rebut that. Not too long after, we got the signal that we would be moving out. Piper was still with Korr''tak in the lead car. I didn''t like our group to be separated like this but I understood that Piper was doing her best to make sure the guy we risked our lives to save, not to mention our employer, came out okay. I took the opportunity to get some sleep curled up with Luna while I still could. Our wagon once again roughly journeyed down the road. Chapter 90

<~> Chapter 90 I woke to a sharp whistle. "Another danger whistle!" Iris called out to the wagon. Nearly everyone had been asleep after the trouble with the umber hounds. I wasn''t sure how long it had been since then. When our wagon rumbled to a stop Valkin pulled the door open and jumped out with all of us just behind him. I glanced at Iris as she took up her knife and hid behind a box again before I shut the door behind me. It wasn''t quite dawn yet and I could tell from looking at my friends that it had to have been quite cold. The first thing that touched my nose was the scent of blood as well as the strong smell of mixed spices. I summoned my axe from my ring and placed its comfortable weight on my shoulder as the eight of us quickly made our way to the lead wagon to see what was going on. It didn''t take long for us to see why we stopped. The road had narrowed where parts of the trees had overgrown the trail. Wedged between two of the trees was a large carriage as long as one of our wagons knocked on its side. Broken glass, blends of spices, and dried plants were mixed in with the snow, covering up the scent of the reasonably recent bodies of the previous owners. Three human bodies were lying in the snow and two trails of blood led into the woods. The trees looked thicker in this area than they had been the last time we stopped, which made it difficult to see very far into the woods from here. I couldn''t hear the presence of anything else in the immediate area though which made me feel like it was probably safe for the moment. Piper was already on one knee examining the corpses while Korr''tak watched her from a distance. He turned and looked back at us as we approached him through the snow. "You heard my whistle," he said simply before turning back to continue watching Piper. Valkin''s group stopped to talk to Korr''tak while we approached Piper and the corpses by the overturned carriage. "Goblins," she said to us without even turning around. "The bodies here are probably from yesterday, this group was only a day ahead of us according to the manifest there," she said pointing to an open book sitting on one of the nearby crates that had fallen out of the carriage. "How many people were in the wagon?" Maxwell asked. "Five, three here, which leaves those," she said gesturing toward the blood trails. "These three are the men, which means those two would have been the women according to the manifest." My hackles rose at the implication she was making. "Are you sure they''re goblins? There aren''t supposed to be goblins on this road." Aria asked. She sighed. "Unfortunately. These stab wounds were made with dull rusted weapons and that arrow there is obviously goblin-made. After fighting them on the sixteenth floor of the Fallow dungeon, I know what the wounds they inflict look like." ("A day might be recent enough for us to rescue them,") Luna said to all of us. Sighing and shaking her head Piper stood up from the corpse. "Maybe, but after how difficult it was to get everyone to agree on rescuing Korr''tak, do you think they''ll be enthusiastic about sending anyone on another rescue mission today?" "What if Helena went now? Before anyone stops her," Maxwell asked. Piper took a sly peek at the other hunter group. "We still need to clear the road of this carriage, maybe clear a few of the trees from the road too. Helena could use that time to investigate those blood trails. If anyone''s still alive, those trails of blood should take you right to them. Some of the merchants will want to poke around the carriage anyway, see what''s salvageable. What do I say if the other group asks?" "They found out about Helena last night," Maxwell said. "Shouldn''t be too hard for them to figure out why we would send her alone." "How did they react to that?" Piper asked. "Fine for the most part. Valkin is pretty wary of me now, the others don''t seem as bothered," I replied for Maxwell. "What do you think, Helena? Do you want to go?" Maxwell asked. I glanced at Luna who gave me a nod. Comfortable knowing that she was okay with the idea, I nodded in return. "I''ll go, cover for me." ("I know goblins shouldn''t be a threat to you, but be careful,") Luna said. I pulled her into a sideways hug and I kissed her cheek. "I''ll be back soon. Don''t let the scavengers take all of their wares in case they''re still alive." This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ("Okay, we''ll make sure to set everything to the side ''for inspection'' before we let anyone take anything.") Luna said to us. "I''ll talk with Valkin about setting up a perimeter while you slip away," Maxwell said under his breath. At this stage, some of the braver merchants were peeking out of their windows to get an idea of what was happening. Without saying anything else I followed one of the blood trails into the woods. Once I was out of sight, I kneeled in the snow to get a better sense of the scent. Two scents, clouded by the disgusting stench of the goblins. The monsters never bathed so they always smelled rancid and sweaty. The two women smelled like spices, one smelled of herbs and plants while the other smelled more like seeds, nuts, and fruit. They were both adults, but one of them was older, likely the other''s mother. Both scents were so strong I would be able to track them even in my human form easily. I stood up and began to walk faster through the snow. The goblins were usually noisy. After tracking them so much in the dungeon I wouldn''t have any trouble picking out some of their sounds when I got closer. Right now it was better if I hurried rather than tried to maintain stealth. Goblins were not difficult for me to kill relative to the other monsters I''ve fought. I put away my axe and decided I would rather use my claws for this. I would need to be careful around the hostages but I would be fine even if I was forced to use only my fists. On a whim, I decided to try something out as I followed the scent trail. Rather than shifting fully, I tried to only shift my head to see how long I could maintain that. At first my neck felt very uncomfortable until I adjusted the straps of my armor a little to give me more room there. Like this, I could better take advantage of my umber hound senses without changing my silhouette too much. If I could master this partial shifting I might be able to get away with passing as a beastkin, though my eyes would still be a problem. Even just maintaining my wolf-like ears would be a huge benefit though. The only issue was that it took a lot of concentration to hold it like this, hopefully that would pass with experience. It kind of felt like sucking in your gut and holding it there. Doable, but you need to maintain some focus on it. My ear flicked when I heard the first sign of the goblins. It sounded like some kind of argument between two of them. Not an uncommon thing to hear from them in my experience. I dipped into a crouch and closed the shutters of my lantern. Right now I was relying on my umber hound eyesight instead. I took some distance away from the blood trails so I could approach the sounds from a different angle. The blood trails led into the mouth of a cave tunnel and two goblins were fighting with each other around a crudely built fire in front of it. The goblins weren''t any better dressed for the cold than they had been in the dungeon, but apart from the fire, they didn''t seem to notice or mind. I spent a little bit of time looking for other goblins outside of the entrance to make sure I wouldn''t be ambushed. Once it was clear there were no others outside, I dashed in while the two were distracted and killed them before they could make more than a garbled squawk. I perked my ears for a moment, listening to see if there was any sign of reinforcements, but after a moment I felt confident I hadn''t been detected yet. Not wanting to deal with them, or give myself away yet, I flung the corpses into the snow off to the side of the cave''s mouth. The cave smelled even worse than the goblins did, purely because the smell of dozens of goblins mixed together in here. It was easy to tune those scents out and focus on the two scents of spices among the filth though, something that''s become easier since I''ve developed my scent tracking skills. There were echoes through the caves but the noises were so far off it made things unclear. Taking some inspiration from the bats that improved my hearing, I clicked my tongue a few times and was able to put together a sense of the layout of the cave system purely from the echoes. It was amazing how much my senses and my ability to interpret them have improved. Three paths were ahead, two were dead ends but one of those dead ends had a goblin there waiting to ambush people who walked by. I slipped into the cave while it was still unaware of me and quickly killed it before it could cause me any trouble. The other dead end had some crates or something in it, but I decided it wasn''t worth my time to check on it. I continued on the winding path that led to a small chamber. Four goblins were ahead eating some kind of raw meat. I didn''t think it was the two people I was coming to save based on the scent of it. It was probably some kind of animal. Something similar to a rabbit maybe. I clicked my tongue another few times but didn''t sense any other goblins in the area. My tongue clicking had alerted one of the closest goblins to me but that didn''t help him when I burst into the chamber and rent his body with my partially transformed claws. Even wearing the armor my claws were larger than my hands, which let me envelop them in a shadowy partial transformation. I wasn''t able to kill all of these ones without letting them make noise but I didn''t hear any other nearby goblins. Once I was finished I kicked the corpses out of the center of the room to get them out of the walkway. Closing my eyes I took in the nearby scents and tried to figure out which way the smells of spices had gone. After a moment I picked up the smell from the tunnel on my right so I turned and headed down that path. Every dozen feet or so I clicked my tongue a few more times to make sure I didn''t miss any branches. For whatever reason this path was longer than the others had been. After a while though I started to pick up the sounds of the women I was tracking. One was crying and the other was rattling some kind of metal bars. Both of them are alive. I continued to creep up carefully in case there were other goblins hidden in the side tunnels on the way but I couldn''t hear any more. Eventually, I could tell the metal door one of the women was trying to pry open was just around another bend so I relaxed my face and allowed it to shift back to my human form. I also pulled out my sword and sheath to put around my waist. I wouldn''t be able to use my claws from here on out if I wanted to help them escape without them learning about my umber hound side. Finally, I opened the shutters of my lantern so that I would be able to see better without my umber hound sight. The one banging on the bars stopped and I heard her whisper, "I see something, a light is coming." I crept around the corner and found the two I had been tracking. Two female beastkin, both had brown canine looking ears and long bushy tails. Both of them had bandaged themselves up with fabric they tore from the younger woman''s skirt. Most of the blood that I had seen on the way here wasn''t actually theirs, it had dripped off the goblins that had dragged them here, but both of them still had bandaged wounds. The younger one was the one trying to break the metal bars of the makeshift cage that had been embedded in the rock and the older woman was crying in the corner turned away from a partially disassembled corpse lying on a butcher''s table on the other side of the bars. This place smelled like rotting meat. These two were being kept here as food. "I''m here to rescue you, stand away from the bars," I told them. The younger one immediately moved next to her mother and held her while I got to work. I looked over the metal poles and decided that the most likely way of breaking this open would be by putting pressure on the hinges. They were rusty and were the cause of the rattling I heard earlier. The younger one had the right idea, but she wasn''t strong enough to put enough force into it. There was also the lock itself but it looked like a large bolt and I didn''t have the key for it or any experience with lockpicking so I dismissed that plan before giving it much serious thought. I put my hands onto one of the bars of the door and planted my feet. It would be easier to push the bars in probably but I didn''t want to risk slamming the metal against them by accident. With a wrenching motion, I pulled the bars back as hard as I could and was surprised by how easily the hinges gave. I nearly landed on my ass because I was expecting it to be harder to do. I pulled the door off of the locked bolt and leaned the barred door against the side of the wall. Then I waved the two out of the cell. They hurriedly exited and stood next to me with slight awe. "Let''s get the two of you out of here," I said as I led them through the darkness lit only by my glowing purple lantern. Chapter 91

<~> Chapter 91 "What''s your name?" the younger woman asked me as we trudged through the snow back toward the caravan. "Helena," I replied. "What about you two?" "Phoebe. And my mom''s name is Juliana." Phoebe was in better shape than her mother so she was helping her walk. One of her legs had been broken in the scramble to get away from the goblins and she couldn''t bear any weight on it. Phoebe had slashes on her arms from when she had tried to fight the goblins off but luckily none of them were particularly deep so her bandages were good enough for now. Piper would probably be able to heal both of them up without any trouble. "Nice to meet you." I kept things short with the two of them, mostly because I was staying alert for any goblins I might have missed on the walk back. We were almost back to the caravan now and the first light was trickling through the pine trees. It would have been a nice picturesque scene if it wasn''t for the inherent danger of the forest in a world with monsters in it. One of the snow leopardkin were the first to spot us when we got close to the camp. It was the younger sister Talia. She was one of the people watching the perimeter. "You found survivors?" she asked in shock. "Yes, both of them are hurt and one of them broke their leg. Where''s Piper at?" "Piper''s waiting by the lead wagon while the boys work at dragging the broken carriage off the road," she replied. "Is our carriage destroyed or is it salvageable?" Phoebe asked. Talia shrugged, "Not sure. I didn''t get a close look at it." She turned back to me. "Go ahead and take them over to Piper. I''m still patrolling the surroundings." "Got it. Come on, this way," I told the two dogkin as we headed over. Piper ran over the moment she saw us and helped Juliana over to a mat that had been laid on the floor. "Any sign of other survivors?" she asked me. "No signs of other survivors. I saw a corpse but that one looked old," I replied. "Did you kill all the goblins?" I shook my head. "No, I focused on getting these two out first, but I don''t think there were many left." Piper frowned. "I think you should go finish them off before¡ª" "Who are those people!?" The drakken who had tried to stop us from saving Korr''tak suddenly rushed over looking angry. "Survivors from the goblin attack," I said while turning to him. "You! You''re supposed to be our guard! You can''t go running off to help other people when you''re supposed to be protecting us!" he yelled. "What''s going on here?" Korr''tak asked. He was looking a lot better than he had when I saw him earlier. More put together. "The guard you hired for us ran off again!" the drakken huffed. "You realize the first time I ''ran off'' was to go save Korr''tak''s life, right?" I asked. The drakken''s lip raised enough for me to see his large gritted teeth. This guy was bearing his fangs at me. I clenched my fists as hard as I could to reel in my instincts. It took all of my willpower not to just gouge out his throat for challenging me like this. I stood up and walked away from him. I could hear him continuing to yell over my shoulder as I put distance between us. I had to go get Maxwell to smooth things over, things could go bad if I didn''t walk away right now. Fuck that guy. I''ll go kill the rest of the goblins to blow off steam. I followed Maxwell''s familiar scent right to him. He was one of the people patrolling the perimeter of the paused caravan. "Maxwell!" I called out. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He turned to me and waved as I walked up to him. "Helena, are you okay?" I took a breath after realizing how angry I must have looked. "I rescued two of the people who owned the caravan in the front. When I took them to Piper for healing one of the caravan guys started yelling at me." I paused and switched to using the rings. ("It took everything I had to walk away from him without tearing his throat out. Will you go talk to him and smooth things over? I''m going to go back and finish off the goblins I left, I need to hurt something.") "Sure, you go ahead. I''ll talk to Valkin about covering this length of the perimeter. Some beastkin also suffer from bouts of anger, I''m sure he''ll understand." "Are you sure it''s okay to tell him about that part? He''s already wary of me," I asked with concern. He nodded. "Trust me, Helena. I''ll smooth things over, just go finish off all the goblins. We can''t leave those to fester here and make this road a nightmare to travel." I took a deep breath. "Okay. I''m going then." Following the earlier scents, I walked right back into the woods and avoided anyone from the caravan so I wouldn''t have to talk to any of them. Some of the anger I had tamped down simmered back to the top as I thought about how that guy was yelling at me. I had never been so quick to anger before but that guy''s facial features triggered a response from my umber hound side and it was one of the first times I had to completely reject my instincts without being able to redirect that somewhere else. That situation could have gone very badly. It was a close call. Not long later, I reached the mouth of the cave again to find new goblins at the front. They were sitting at the fire again and bickering as if nothing had even happened, they didn''t seem any more alert after the other two goblins had gone missing. I let myself shift back into my umber hound form and let the rush of anger unwind in me like a released spring. A fraction of a second later my claws had driven themselves through the head of the two goblins and I flung the bodies into the pile where I had thrown the others. I growled and entered the cave once again. I had to steady my anger and quiet my growling so I could click my tongue to take advantage of my improved hearing. They hadn''t replaced the ambush goblin yet. I continued forward until I reached the crossroad intersection I had traveled before. There were more goblins here, six were having an argument. I couldn''t understand their language but they seemed to be fighting over the possessions of the corpses I had left. Tired of observing, I dashed forward and started to kill them. I slashed my claws through the chests of two of them before grabbing a third and flinging its body into two others. I rent my claws through the last standing one before turning and stomping on the three that I had knocked over. Goblins had never been a challenge for me, even when I first woke up as an umber hound hybrid, but the fights were pathetic now. The dagger they had been fighting over was covered in rust and grime, it wasn''t something worth bothering with. I continued forward through one of the other tunnels I hadn''t checked before. Like the other paths in this crossroad, these tunnels were longer than the others. I gagged when I reached the end. This place was like a graveyard. It was where the goblins dumped the corpses of other dead goblins that died in their den. Goblins were already gross and disgusting but these ones left out to rot were even worse. I wish Luna was here to burn this to ash. This place was another dead end though, so I could turn around and head back to the crossroads. I turned down the last path, careful not to get turned around. Not long down the tunnel, I could hear more goblin chatter. The remainder of the living goblins were through here. I slowed my gait, not wanting to be spotted too soon so that I could get an idea of how many would be down here. Two guards were sitting near the entrance and I took them out before they could react and dragged them back into the tunnel before we could be seen. When I was finished with that I peeked around the corner into the large cavern the goblins had taken over. There were a lot of goblins here, much more than I had expected. A few hundred maybe. Above the cavern was a large hole in the roof that let in some of the morning sun. I wouldn''t even be able to smoke them out, the cavern would let any trapped smoke out through the ceiling like a chimney. I again wished Luna were here, killing large crowds was her specialty. I think there may be too many here for me to kill before the caravan gets impatient while waiting for me to return. The thought irked me. Why should I care about their impatience? I saved Korr''tak''s life and that drakken had the gall to yell at me for rescuing others. Before I realized what I was doing I had run into the large crowd and started killing the goblins in front of me. A loud horn blew and I continued to tear through every goblin I could find. They fell away like shredded paper as I let my claws tear through them and I embraced the rage inside of me. After I had killed a few dozen, a bolt of inspiration hit me. I mentally wrapped my hand around that knot of mana in my chest and squeezed it while thinking of that fire-maned zebra from the dungeon. My body shifted and I felt warm. My limbs lengthened until I was comfortably on four hooves galloping through the goblins and spreading trails of fire in my wake. I leapt over and trampled the goblins as my fire spread to their makeshift huts and mats. Some of them leapt at me and tried to stab me but I felt faster than ever. My reaction time didn''t slow from my umber hound form so it was simple to dodge and weave between the ones that had tried to attack me before they were lit ablaze by my trailing fire. The flames lapped at my hide but they didn''t hurt me, couldn''t hurt me. I realized at that moment what I had gotten from eating the zebra heart. Immunity to flames. Different from heat, to the chagrin of my past self who had sweltered in the heat of that floor, but pretty strong nonetheless. The fire spread through the cave and the air began to turn black with smoke as everything around me burned. The distinct instincts I felt from the fire zebra wasn''t worried about the smoke so I wasn''t either. Soon I found myself near where I had started and I turned back to see the devastation I had left in my path. My mane crackled and my instincts told me that there wasn''t much air left in the cavern, most of it was fueling the burning all around me. This wasn''t much cause for concern because whatever magic let me spread my flames also let me breathe the smoke and ash in place of air. I assumed it would be unsafe to shift back though. I walked the outside of the cavern looking for other tunnels or exists and eventually made another full circle to where I started again. I had killed all of them in the inferno I created here. I looked up at the hole in the ceiling. It wasn''t noon yet, I had made good time. Carefully I entered the cavern in my zebra form while tightening my hold on my flames. I had to be careful on my hooves here to avoid twisting my legs on this uneven ground, or so my zebra instincts told me. I walked through the cramped tunnels on shaky hooves through each of the paths to destroy everything and hopefully stymie any other goblins'' attempts to resettle here. It wasn''t until I reached the mouth of the cave and I was sure there was enough air for me to breathe again that I shifted back to my human form. I panted as I leaned my body against the dry wall of the cave''s mouth and wiped the sweat from my brow. The exertion of holding that form for as long as I did had winded me. I hadn''t even realized how taxing it was until I shifted back. I walked over to the four goblins I had left in the bushes outside and tossed them back into the spreading fire inside the cave. Soon the snow and lack of oxygen would snuff out the flames here and hopefully there would be nothing left for the goblins to rebuild with. After sniffing the air and catching a scent, I walked back toward the caravan. Chapter 92

<~> Chapter 92 There was one problem with returning to the caravan right now and the problem has only been growing stronger as I walked. I was famished. The ability to transform into other monsters I had used to burn up everything in that cave must have spent a lot of the reserve magic I still had from the dungeon. Since I had left, I hadn''t found any opportunities to eat the kind of magic-rich meat that sustained my umber hound abilities. That''s why I couldn''t resist a scent I had come across on the way back. One whiff of it and my mouth began to water as my umber hound instincts screamed at me to go chase it down. Good prey, if I had to put the feeling into words. I paused and hesitated. I knew that I was already pushing my return but... I was starving. I looked up at the sky. It wasn''t quite noon yet but it was getting close. I wouldn''t have a lot of time but I needed to do this. Before I left the trail I had the sense to take out my axe and carve a deep gash in one of the trunks of a nearby tree. I would need to find my way back here if I got lost. After I finished with that I put away my axe, turned in the direction of that new scent, and shifted into my umber hound form to hunt. As I followed the trail as stealthily as I could, I tried to process the scent of the thing I was tracking. It smelled like deer mixed with an earthy scent of spring leaves. An odd smell for this time of year in the middle of a light snowfall. My instincts told me that whatever I was tracking would be rich in the magic I needed to continue fueling myself. I made sure to continue approaching downwind of the strong scent, I couldn''t risk letting this monster smell me before I got close enough to chase. I almost panicked when I passed a brook, but luckily the scent wasn''t lost there. I was able to pick it back up on the other side of the flowing water. The foliage grew denser as I continued and I started to worry as I got further and further from the caravan. I wanted to track this monster down but I didn''t want to get left behind or make the others worry. I had already been gone longer than I had been expecting. My mind was so distracted that I almost missed the snap of a twig I heard as I continued to follow that scent. I froze. I didn''t want to scare off my prey. After a few moments I moved toward the source of the broken branch. I peeked around one of the thick bushes, careful not to rustle it and give myself away. As I peered through an opening into a clearing, I saw it. A giant stag with a regal crown of horns stood in the middle of the clearing eating from the grass. It was a light green color with a wreath of ivy, flowers, and herbs wrapped around its neck and down its back like a mane. The monster was majestic and I would be in awe of it if the sight didn''t make me lick my chops in anticipation. The thing was huge, even larger than me in my umber hound form. This fight might be a challenge on my own without very much mana to rely on. I''m sure I would have enough mana to heal myself, but I wouldn''t have much more for any fancier tricks. That was fine by me. I crouched down to all fours and compressed the muscles in my legs. This was among the first times I truly appreciated the powerful legs I had gotten from the bloody rabbits. I instinctively knew that my speed would be the key to taking this thing down. In an instant, I rocketed forward in a powerful leap right at the deer monster with my fangs and claws bared. At the last moment, the deer jumped forward in an attempt to dodge my attack and all I could do was rake its rump with one of my claws before hitting the ground and jumping to chase after it. The deer was fast but I was catching up. This would have been impossible if I didn''t have these legs meant for running away the same way my prey did. The monster looked back and could tell I was gaining on it so it spun on its hooves and tried to stand its ground instead. I was almost impaled on a carpet of thorns that sprouted from the ground like spears, but I was able to redirect my momentum to the side just in time to bolt around them and continue the chase. A cloud of pollen began to billow in the air and my umber hound instincts began to become panicked with worry, but my rational side chose to hold my breath through the yellow and red clouds of dust the deer let off behind it like little trails of smoke. Trying to hold your breath while running was impossible to maintain for long but the deer thankfully gave up on releasing the multicolored clouds of pollen and turned to summon another bramble of thorns. Rather than spears to impale me again, this patch of thorns was thick and gnarled to impede my passage through them like a carpet of caltrops. Rather than even attempting to deal with them I just bared down on my legs and leapt into the air over the bramble. I swear I could see the surprise in the deer monster''s eyes when I landed right in front of it and tackled it to the ground. My teeth ripped into its throat and suddenly it was over. I tore into its neck and I already felt the electric buzz of mana flowing into me and refreshing me again. It felt like it had been so long since I''ve eaten. To my werewolf half, it had been. I moaned as I swallowed the rich flavorful meat and swallowed down the juices as I tore into my hard-won carcass. I take back anything bad I''ve said about the bloody rabbits, the legs I adapted from them won me this meal. I continued to tear into the meat even after I had mostly sated the gnawing hunger that had led me to this chase, it just tasted that good. This deer-thing is now my favorite meat, edging out the frost salamanders and the minotaur by a fair amount. I licked my chops when I got close to the part I had been waiting for this entire time. THE HEART! I bit into the tough muscle and swallowed it in three large bites. The rush of mana felt invigorating as I felt it refill that knot of mana I had emptied earlier in the goblin cave. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. For a split second I panicked, worried that I would have another outcome like the transformation to my legs out here completely on my own but the panic passed when I felt the monster I killed form another metaphorical knot of mana inside of my chest. Unafraid of wasting any mana with more than half a carcass of mana-rich meat next to me I didn''t hesitate to grab it and see what it could do. Blooms of fragrant herbs burst from the snowy ground around me creating a small pad of plants that reminded me of the dried spices that they used to cook the meat pies Luna loved so much. Unlike most of the other knots of mana I had gained until now, I was able to moderate the amount of mana I pulled from this one. Squeezing just a little let me control what I was growing and I watched as a vine of silvery mint began to grow up the nearby tree I was looking at. When I stopped I realized I hadn''t spent even a tenth of the mana that I had available from these two applications. I broke some of the mint plant off and stored it in my ring for later. As cool as that was it was only a minor distraction and I went back to eating more of the corpse. I knew I wouldn''t be able to take much back with me so I worked to get my fill. When I sat back stuffed full, I frowned at the half carcass that was left. I shifted back to my human form and tried to see if it would fit in my ring like this and I was sad to see that it wouldn''t. Shaking my head I decided I would try and salvage as much as I could. I pulled out a bundle of knives and tools that Maxwell had urged me to buy when we were still back in Fallow. They were a set of tools used to process monster kills. At the time I hadn''t been convinced of the need to carry a redundant set, but now I was thanking him as I worked to save the best bits of the deer monster. The first thing I did was use the knives and tools to remove the skull and head from the body. I had a feeling the large rack of horns would be worth something since I could see the magic in them with the blindfold. When I had the head fully sawn off I looked at it and reflected for a moment at how different my life now was. I was staring at a giant deer head that I had killed myself so I could stick it in my magical ring. I shook my head and continued. I mostly wanted to save most of the meat but I tried my best to preserve as much of the pelt as I could too. Some of the hide had been damaged when I was chasing it but I was able to get most of it off in one piece. I wrapped up as much of the leg and torso meat as I could while ignoring the entrails and bones. I had already eaten as much of the rib meat as I could and abandoned the rest since the ribs would take up too much space in my ring. In the end I had a mostly disassembled headless dear body left on the ground. My cuts weren''t perfect but I saved a lot more meat than if I had left it here. I don''t think people would be happy if I turned up with this carcass when they thought I was out slaying goblins. I frowned and looked up at the sky. It was well past noon now, I needed to get back soon before people began to worry about me. My friends know how hard I am to kill, but there''s plenty of other trouble I could get myself in. I also didn''t want to delay the caravan leaving. We wasted a lot of time today on this goblin stuff already. I left the rest of the carcass here for the scavengers. After cleaning the last of the blood and grime off my hands in the river I had passed, I started jogging back to the tree I had diverted from earlier. I wasn''t too worried about other threats right now so I made good time back through the forest and was back at the tree I had marked in no time. I had a bit of a laugh at how much better my running speed had probably improved since I had been here. Magical werewolf transformations aside, the constant exercise and lean meals had left me in great shape. I would totally win that triathlon if I ever returned home. I was in a great mood now, all the worries I had about squabbling with the other caravan people were gone by the time I got back. However, the squabbling didn''t seem to be done with me yet. "There she is! That deserter is back!" The whiny drakken started bitching at me again the moment I returned. I disliked him so much I didn''t even want to bother learning his name. "They are hunters, not military. I''ll handle her, you go back to your wagon. Now that she''s here, we''re leaving soon," Korr''tak told him with a clipped tone. He squinted at me and grumbled before walking off. Korr''tak turned to me. "What took you so long? Maxwell told me you would have been back by now." "There were a lot more goblins than expected, a few hundred. It took a while. I made sure to kill all of them and burn everything left in their cave. Even if more goblins find it, it''ll be harder for them to settle there now," I replied. Korr''tak sighed and pinched the ridge of his nose. "Fine. Go back to your wagon and get ready to leave, we''ve been here for too long already." He then turned and blew a whistle that hurt my ears. I walked back to my wagon and found Luna waiting for me there. ("Welcome back,") she said with a smile. It was hard to describe how warm those simple words felt to me right now. Chapter 93

<~> Chapter 93 Luna and I climbed into the wagon and sat in the corner that had become our usual spot. Iris perked up when she saw us enter. "I heard the whistle that means we were leaving soon, is everything alright out there?" Iris asked. "I just got back from killing goblins. I haven''t talked to the others yet, but I assume everything is fine." I sat down and leaned against the wall and pulled Luna against me. She rubbed herself against me a little before getting herself comfortable. ("How did it go? You took longer than all of us expected.") ("There turned out to be hundreds of them. While I was in there I tried that transformation magic I gained from the lost halls again. I shifted into one of those fire zebras and used it to burn everything in the cave down to ashes. That part went well but it took a lot out of me and I was starving when I came out.") A look of worry crossed Luna''s face and she sat back up to examine my body. ("Your mana looks normal though, what do you mean by starving?") I pulled her back against me and kissed the top of her head. ("I was so famished that when I was walking back I couldn''t resist following a scent down and hunting it. I probably would have been back before anyone wondered about me if I hadn''t taken that detour.") ("Ah, I see. What did you end up hunting then? Something new?") she asked. ("It was a giant deer with ivy and flowers growing around its neck. It grew thorns and brambles when I was trying to chase it down.") Luna tilted her head in thought. ("That sounds like a floral king deer. Despite being an herbivorous monster, it has few natural predators. Hunters don''t often hunt it because it takes so many people to pin it down and stop it from escaping. Did you bring any of it back with you?") ("I brought its head because I saw that the horns had a lot of mana in them and I salvaged what I could of the pelt. I also took most of the meat I didn''t finish, I have about half a deer left in my spatial ring but it''s nearly full now. I think I need to start keeping a small supply of meat on me from now on though, in case I overuse my magic again and need more mana-rich meat.") I began to play with her tail which was lazily sweeping across me now. ("And its heart?") she asked. ("I got another one of those knots of mana, it lets me grow plants and flowers. I haven''t tested it extensively but the knot of mana seems more efficient than the others, I don''t bottom out of mana from using it the same way, and eating monster meat refills it quickly.") Luna nodded, which from this angle just felt like her nuzzling me. ("That could be useful. If we could show you some particular flowers, you might be able to grow some healing and detoxification herbs.") I chuckled. ("That was one of the first things I tested.") I pulled out the mint vine I had collected and handed it to Luna. Luna sat up and looked closely at the plant. ("You grew this? This is silver mint, this is a powerful healing herb.") ("Is it? I used mint in cooking occasionally back home so it was one of the first plants that came to mind when I wanted to test out the new ability.") She looked at me and giggled. ("You do seem to primarily think with your stomach, even when growing plants.") She shook her head and examined the plant again. ("The mana quality of this plant is decent but I''ve seen better. I wonder if you can control the mana content or if it''s dependent on where you grow it.") ("We could try that later I guess. We probably don''t want to do it in front of others though and I''m not sure if I can do it in my human form, I haven''t tried it yet.") She nodded. ("Yes, we should test it. If using this ability is easier on you than the other ones it will let us figure out more about how your powers work and maybe how you can control them better. We''ll also get to benefit from collecting some good herbs and spices that we can sell or make into potions. I''m not much of an alchemist but there are some basic salves I could teach you.") ("Having a source of spices will probably make the others happy too.") ("I''m sure it will,") she said with a smile. The door to the wagon slid open and everyone else that had been patrolling climbed inside. Maxwell and Piper sat across from us so we could talk and the others sat on the opposite side of the wagon. "You were gone for longer than we thought you would be, did you run into some trouble?" Maxwell asked. "There were a lot more goblins than expected, more than a hundred. I made sure to burn out the entire cave too when I left," I replied. ("Helena also hunted down a floral king deer while out there to eat. That''s actually what slowed her down so much. She brought back its head and pelt, as well as some of its meat for later. Best to keep that part quiet,") Luna told the group through the rings. "Sorry I took so long," I added. "That drakken that rides in one of the front carriages was rather mad at me when I returned." Maxwell nodded. "Ever since the umber hounds nearly killed his coachman, he''s been on edge. It does seem like there is increased monster activity here though. I''m concerned that some of your efforts will be wasted if multiple aggressive monsters are attacking people along the road." "What happened to the two I brought back from the goblin caves?" I asked. "Their carriage was salvageable, so they bought some planks from one of the other carriages and Valkin helped them patch it up enough to travel with us to Ironcastle," he replied. "Valkin did?" I asked turning to the wolfkin. "What''s that look for?" Valkin asked defensively. "I don''t know, I just didn''t expect that from you." I shrugged. Milana laughed. "Maybe you have the wrong impression of him after the contest you had when you met. Valkin can be pretty helpful when he wants to be." Maxwell glanced at the other wolfkin. "And Norrik helped them bury their dead. They were both traveling with their husbands and a friend." Norrik grunted. "If I died on the side of the road, I would hope someone would have the decency to return me to the dirt." "That makes both of them widows then?" I asked. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Norrik confirmed that with a grunt and a nod. "You should talk to them again the next time we make camp, Helena. They were interested in thanking you again," Maxwell told me. "I''ll talk with them later. Did any of you fight anything while patrolling?" I asked. Talia sighed theatrically. "No! It was so boring. I still would have preferred patrolling to fighting stinky goblins, but the day really dragged on." "Are we behind schedule after all of our stops?" I asked. Maxwell shook his head. "No, I talked with Korr''tak about that earlier. Since we traveled through the night last night we''ve made up for a lot of the lost time. We are a little bit behind today after the unexpected delay from the goblins but Korr''tak may choose to go on longer than he usually would. This part of the road is normally free of monsters but things will be even less likely to attack us once we leave the forest and reach the arid grasslands." I tapped on the floor of the wagon. "Knock on wood." Maxwell looked at me in confusion. ("Superstition,") I told him using the rings. "Superstition?" he repeated for me aloud. "Yeah," I shrugged. "It''s bad luck to talk about how nothing will go wrong. You knock on wood to cancel it." "Why would that make any difference?" Piper asked. I laughed. "It wouldn''t, it''s just a silly superstition. I''m mostly just pointing out that we shouldn''t count on things to go in our favor. Especially with my luck." "If nothing else," Valkin said cutting into the conversation. "We will have an easier time seeing anything that could attack us in the grasslands. If there''s danger we will be alerted to it much sooner." "Fair," I said with a shrug. The rest of the day traveling went without incident and we eventually stopped shortly after sundown to set up camp. There were only a few more days of traveling through the woods before we reached the grasslands but the repeated run-ins with monsters had left most of the merchants on edge, especially now that we had a victim of those monsters traveling with us. We were going to do four shifts of patrols through the night while everyone else rested, something we hadn''t done until now. The two women we rescued turned out to be quickly popular among the merchants because they had a wide variety of dried and fresh spices with them that had been harvested from the mountains surrounding Fallow. They had loaded up their wagon and were now traveling to Ironcastle to unload all of their plants that were native to the region as exotic spices and herbal planters. Phoebe and Juliana didn''t have any issue with selling some of the merchants their spices to better flavor the traveling stew that was being served in bulk for the trip. "Helena! Come over here!" Phoebe waved me over. I was surprised to see her so lively after finding out two of the men who had died were her husband and father. People deal with their grief in different ways so I chose not to ask about it. "Hello, Phoebe. How are you doing?" I asked. "Oh, you remember my name! Good. I was hoping you would. Do you want something to add to your stew? I think some of this goes well with it." She held out a small sachet of crushed dried herbs. I took the sachet and sniffed it a little. It smelled pretty good, I wasn''t familiar enough with spices to really compare it to anything. My experience with spices mostly stopped at "Italian seasoning" and pepper. "Do I dump this into the stew or leave it in the sachet?" I asked. "You can do whichever you prefer. None of these ones will hurt you if you eat them," Phoebe replied. "Do you have any fresh plants I could look at?" She hesitated. "Alright, I would be a fool to turn away my savior..." She led me to her carriage and opened the door to me. The different scents of herbs and spices were rather strong but none of them felt too overpowering. On one of the shelves of the carriage was a row of potted plants that had all been repotted recently. There was a lot of soil and broken ceramic on the floor that hadn''t been cleaned up yet after their carriage had been turned over. Some of the plants looked rather rough after being jostled around so much and some had broken leaves and stems. One of the plants caught my eye though because it smelled similar to basil. I pointed at it. "Do you have more of this in dried form?" I asked pointing to the herb I had found. She took a closer look and nodded. "Yes actually. Would you like some?" "How much?" I asked. "Oh... I hadn''t expected you to offer to pay... You saved my life so I feel as though I owe you a debt..." I shook my head. "You''ve been through a lot and these plants are your lifeline, aren''t they? I don''t want to take more from you when you''ve already been through so much." "I don''t know..." she said. I tapped my chin. "How about this then, maybe you could trade me something for this." I pulled out the rest of the silver mint I had grown earlier. I hadn''t taken a lot of it but I had a small bundle in my hands. Her eyes lit up. "Is this silver mint? Where did you get this?" "I found some of it when I was walking back from the goblin cave. Can you do something with this? Is it valuable to you?" I asked. She nodded. "I can give you an assortment of dried herbs, including the one you pointed out if you want to trade this to me. All of the silver mint I had was destroyed when our cart was attacked but I may be able to cultivate more with this. Are you sure?" I smiled. "I am. Having an assortment of dried herbs would help me out a lot." She smiled and took the silver mint from me before placing it on an empty planting bed she had set out. "I''ll properly plant this later tonight. It''s amazing you found some with all of the snow. Silver mint doesn''t like the frost. I can tell the magic content is pretty good too. Do you prefer dried herbs or do you want some of the other spices too?" "I prefer dried herbs," I replied. "Okay! Let me get you those herbs then, will you wait for me outside?" "Sure." I stepped outside the carriage to wait for her to collect the dried herbs for me. I was excited to see what I could reproduce using my new floral king magic. Chapter 94

<~> Chapter 94 I watched the horizon as the trees began to thin around us and the giant expanse of brown and orange grass opened up in front of us. We were now traveling downhill out of the forest and into the arid grasslands I had been told about. After our repeated encounters with monsters, the caravan suddenly became a lot more worried about how we were handling security. Rather than cooping all of us in one wagon in the middle, each of us rode on one of the wagon coach seats with their drivers to watch for upcoming danger. I had been told that they had taken this route so many times before that they had mostly taken hunters along for camp labor and maybe hunting fresh food along the way. Before Korr''tak had been taken, they had refused to let the contracted hunters ride on their wagons and now they were fighting over which wagon would get which hunter. The air already smelled differently as we were leaving the forest. The smell of old leaves and frosty snow was giving way to a more pleasant smell of winter wildflowers that grew off in the distance where the air was a little bit warmer. It wasn''t warm, don''t get me wrong, but it wasn''t snowing either. I was sitting in the second wagon in the group, the owner of this wagon was quite adamant that he have me in particular and I didn''t mind much. I couldn''t stand the merchant that was in the first wagon but I also wanted to see the landscape as we traveled a little since I hadn''t had an opportunity until now. Sitting on the coach seat while we were moving took a bit of getting used to though, the huge beasts that pulled the wagons were much faster than I had expected. They traveled longer than horses at a much faster sustained clip while pulling more than I would expect horses to be able to carry. I later asked Maxwell about it and he said that horses were still used but mainly as singular mounts rather than as a beast that pulls carriages or wagons. After we increased our focus on security we naturally didn''t run into any more trouble through the forest. Though even the two situations we had found were much more than originally expected. All of the merchants were plenty happy about that and even the coachmen who suddenly had to share their space with the hunters seemed quite happy to have the company after the man in the lead wagon almost died. With only eight wagons and nine hunters to guard them, Luna was the odd one out since she couldn''t speak up and warn the coachman she sat next to of danger. She sat in the wagon with Iris and chatted with us through the rings as we traveled. I felt a little bad for our little message runner since she spent most of her time lying around and listening for the whistles with nothing else to do. She never complained about it though and was quite lively during the evening camp meals which improved my initial impression of her. I spent the evenings when I was off of watch rotation in the woods experimenting with my new floral king deer powers. I came back with a bunch of fresh spices each time which I could tell made the spice dealer suspicious, but she didn''t say anything about it. Pheobe even asked to buy some of the fresh spices I had collected a few of the times. At one point she mentioned that one of the spices I brought back only grows in the summer. I could see the question on her lips but she didn''t ask it. I took it as a warning to ask more questions about the spices before using my magic to suspiciously reproduce them. As Luna had theorized, the plants'' mana content was largely based on where they were grown but I did have some control over it. If I wanted the plants to have next to no mana in them, that was easy enough, but trying to pump more mana into the plants was much more difficult. Not impossible, but it took a lot of concentration and there seemed to be an upper limit on it. I wasn''t sure if it was because of the plants or because of me though. It was possible I would be able to enrich the plants with more mana after becoming better experienced with the new ability I had gained. My mana control wasn''t great in the first place. When we stopped for camp that night we were fully out of the woods now and we had our wagons circled into a reasonably large ring around our tents. I could tell the mood was more chipper now that the expectation of danger had passed but I was starting to get a bad feeling about something. It was hard to place but something just felt off to me. I may have even not noticed the feeling had it not been in such stark contrast to all of the merchants who were happily joking as if everyone was fully clear of any trouble. Trouble had a way of finding me. I pulled Maxwell, Aria, and Luna aside for a moment. Piper was on first watch with some of the others right now so I didn''t want to distract her, especially when I was feeling this way. "Guys, something feels off to me. I don''t know what it is but I have a really bad feeling. Does everything feel normal to you?" Aria frowned and looked up at the sky. "Actually... I wasn''t going to say anything because, I don''t know, it''s kind of a weird thing to notice, but the birds are acting weird. All day they''ve been flying in only one direction any time I''ve looked. Even the birds that normally circle have only been going that way," she said pointing south. "It''s not a migration thing, these birds don''t migrate." I turned and looked the opposite way. "Do you think something is happening in the north? Something that''s scaring away the birds?" "I don''t know," she said with a shrug. Maxwell looked lost in thought while cupping his chin. After a moment he shook his head. "Sometimes large monsters or swarms of monsters will scare things away but I don''t know of anything that would be in this region that could cause this." "You said something similar about the goblins and the umber hounds," I noted. He sighed. "True, but that just means I don''t know what it could be, not that I don''t believe something is up. I''ll go talk with Valkin''s team and see if they have any ideas." "Anything to add?" I asked Luna. She shook her head. ("No, I don''t know of anything either. Maxwell knows more about monsters and where they reside than I do.") I turned back to Maxwell. "Wait, could this not actually be about monsters? What if there''s a natural disaster coming? I''ve heard animals can sometimes sense things like that before they happen." He frowned. "Could be... but I would have an even worse idea of what to do about something like that." Luna looked around for a moment. ("Should we prepare for a thunderstorm?") I nodded. "That would explain the birds. Birds can sense the change in..." I turned to Luna. ("Atmospheric pressure.") Luna pursed her lips but repeated the words through the rings to the others. Aria shook her head. "I don''t know what you mean by that. Are you saying they can sense the change in the air before a storm?" I nodded. "Yes, more or less." "That''s more concrete, I can work with that. I''ll go warn the others of the potential for a thunderstorm," Maxwell said. He paused for a moment before turning to me. "You might want to take off your armor, Helena. Metal attracts lightning." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. I chuckle. "I know Maxwell. I''ll go do that. What about you?" "I will as well after I talk to a few people," he replied before walking off. "Do you think we''ll be able to do much about the thunderstorm?" I asked the remaining two. Luna nodded. ("Some warning will be helpful. We''re already camped so we can prepare tarps for the wagons and animals. We''ll have to sleep in our wagons rather than in tents tonight, but that shouldn''t be too bad.") "What about guarding the camp? Are monsters going to attack during the thunderstorm?" I asked. Luna tapped her lip. ("I''m not sure. Some monsters do become more active in the rain so it''s possible.") Aria''s expression fell. "We''re going to have to do our watch rotation in the rain, aren''t we?" I looked around the area again. "There''s nothing else around us here. The highest point will be the wagons. Do we need to worry about lightning strikes?" Aria shrugged. "Well, yes. But what can we really do about that?" "What about a lightning rod?" I asked. "A what?" she asked. I looked over at Luna who looked equally confused. "Lightning always takes the shortest path to the ground. If you put something metal above other things in the air with a path to the ground, it attracts lightning strikes to it. Like a rod of metal connected to metal wire." ("Wouldn''t the metal rod just be destroyed by the lightning?") Luna asked. I frowned as I failed to find all the words I needed to explain this. ("No, metal is conductive and some metals are more conductive than others. If there is a highly conductive metal, like copper, with a path to the ground it would safely just strike the copper rod and nothing else would happen.") Luna glanced at Aria before speaking to both of us using the rings again. ("Well, I have no idea if any of that works this way but one of the wagons is transporting metals. We could see if they have a copper rod and try it out. Even if this is just a superstition, there''s not much to lose.") "We''ll need some wire too, it has to have a path to the ground or it won''t work," I told her. I chose to ignore that she thought this might be superstition. "We have to put the rod higher than everything else? Wouldn''t that just mean the lightning would strike whichever wagon the lightning rod is on?" Aria asked. I nodded. "It will strike the rod but as long as it has a safe path to the ground it shouldn''t affect anything else. We just need to make sure the wire isn''t touching anything else conductive and no one is touching it when it''s struck." The two of us started following Aria to the cart of the person that sold metal and I could already see some of the other merchants pulling out tarps and blankets to cover their wagons and the animals with. The giant cattle things they had pulling the wagons were taller than most of the wagons standing, they might be the most likely target of lightning if something happened. That or the wagon that we were heading to. "Copper?" the feline beastkin woman asked after our explanation. "I can show you what I have but I don''t know anything about trying to catch lightning with it. I know that lightning tries to hit metal but collecting a bunch of it right before a thunderstorm seems like a stupid idea. Not that I can really judge considering my wagon is full of it." "Don''t worry, I know what I''m doing," I confidently told her. In reality I only kinda knew what I was doing. But the idea of being out in a storm with a bunch of wagons with no lightning protection scared me. I was from a place that had some pretty severe thunderstorms in the summer so I knew how bad they could get. I found a pair of nice thick spikes made from copper along with some copper cable. I wasn''t sure how thick it needed to be so I went with a bit more than I would expect to need. I was also unsure of how pure this copper was compared to what we had back home so the extra thickness should help I think. All things considered, the metal wasn''t all that expensive, it had been mined in the hills near Fallow and was being brought to Ironcastle to be sold and swapped out for iron to bring back with them to Fallow. Next, we went to another wagon and bought a long wooden beam to mount the thing on. "You''re going to put it on a wood pole? Are you sure this thing won''t just light on fire?" Aria asked me with trepidation. I hesitated. "Ehh... Not entirely but it would still be better if this pole got struck by lightning than any of the wagons right?" Luna looked interested but also pretty skeptical of what I was doing. She didn''t argue with me though at least. I was pretty confident I had the theory correct, it was just the practical matters I wasn''t sure about. I tied one of the spikes to the wooden rod with some extra copper wire, attached the copper cord to the first spike, and tied it to the beam as straight as I could before attaching it to the second copper spike that I hammered into the ground a little ways away from the pole. We set the thing up in the middle of our ring of wagons. Hopefully, it would be close enough to the wagons to protect them. I wasn''t sure how wide of an area the lightning rod would attract lightning from, but this had to be better than nothing. It was just as I had finished mounting it and reinforcing the wooden beam from the wind that we heard the first rumble of thunder and a flash of lightning in the distance. The nostalgic smell of rain touched my nose and all of us sat in our wagons and prepared for the coming storm. Most of the wagons and giant cattle were covered with huge thick canvas tarps to protect them from the rain. The merchants had heeded Maxwell''s warning and all of the wagons were protected by the time the downpour started. I looked up at my makeshift lightning rod and hoped for the best. Chapter 95

<~> Chapter 95 My makeshift lightning rod worked shockingly well. Uh, pun not intended. Lightning hit the rod and safely dispersed it four times before the thunderstorm passed us by. I had been worried the combined wind and lightning strikes would knock the beam down, but I had managed to reinforce it enough to stand up to the weather without any issues. Luna had been absolutely fascinated by my contraption, and I was a little worried about her eyes toward the end of the storm. She had sat near the cracked door despite my insistence to stay back from it and watched every bolt of lightning hit the lightning rod. I was a little annoyed that Piper and Maxwell didn''t even try to help me stop her. They told me that she was impossible to dissuade when she gets like that. After the storm was over, Luna was quite distracted and didn''t talk with us much. Even as we rested cuddled up in our corner of the wagon, she remained awake, deep in thought. I was a little worried about her, so I kept quietly watching her until she finally closed her eyes and fell asleep. The next morning, the rain had died down to a light sprinkle, and what was left of the thunderstorm had traveled down the plains far away from us. Most of the merchants were gathered around my makeshift lightning rod when I finally got up and went to see what was happening. Standing near the center of the circle was a very happy metal merchant who beamed at me when I got close and pointed to something interesting. At the base of the lightning rod were a handful of yellow-green beads crackling with electricity. The mana within them glowed brightly to my mana sight. "What are those?" I asked. "Lightning shards!" the metal merchant exclaimed. "Uh," I turned to Luna for help, but her eyes were wide as saucers staring at the small pile of snapping beads. Luna hadn''t caught my confusion, but Milana from the other group was quick to explain in her place. "They''re rare stones that carry mana that can focus lightning magic. They are made of crystalized mana. They''re usually only found at the sites of lightning strikes..." she said before staring up at the copper rod. ("I''ve never seen so many in one place!") Luna exclaimed to me before reaching out and plucking one of the stones from the small pile under the lightning rod. I watched the electricity snap at her hand, but she didn''t even wince as she pulled it away. She held the bead in one hand, and I could see her mana flare into it before creating several strings of current that trailed off of her hand and arced into the ground around her like one of those novelty plasma balls. "I want to buy that lightning rod from you! Tell me how it works, and I''ll give you half of everything I got on me!" The metal merchant cried out. "What about the lightning shards!? I''ll buy those from you right here!" Another merchant yelled. Suddenly, the area got very noisy as all of the merchants started trying to surround me. I held up my hands and backed away. "Hold on, hold on. I can''t even hear you when you all talk over each other." "None of the lightning shards are for sale," Maxwell quickly interjected. "We''re going to sell them in Ironcastle." There was a lot of grumbling in response to that, but he got surprisingly little pushback. Most of the merchants gave a longing look at the pile of stones before going back to their wagons to start packing up. The only merchant who hadn''t walked away yet was the metal merchant. "I can fashion you a nice box to keep those in without worrying about their power running loose. I''ve had to work with copper before to deal with these things, so I know what I''m doing. I''ll bring you one for free if you will sit down with me later about your lightning rod." I looked to Maxwell for help, and he nodded to me. "If you''re willing to sit down with her, a box like that would be helpful." I sighed. "Alright. Bring me a box to collect them in, and I''ll promise to sit down and... talk with you about it." "Negotiate," Maxwell said nudging me. "Right. I''ll negotiate what kind of trade we can do. In the meantime..." I looked at the lightning rod that sat in the middle of our camp. It held up well to all of the lightning strikes it took. I was a bit worried I had done something wrong, but it seemed to have worked out well. "If you would like me to transport that for now, I''ll happily do so. Korr''tak may be less than enthusiastic about you traveling with that on top of his cart," The merchant added. "And you would be?" I asked. "Sure," she shrugged. "I intend to buy that back from you, at an appropriate price, of course, so putting it with my things now would benefit us both if you intend to sell it." "That would give you a bit more leverage at the negotiation," Aria commented dryly. The merchant quirked a smile. "Maybe a bit, but you shouldn''t worry. I''m prepared to pay a lot for the information on this ''lightning rod'' that you''ve built." Maxwell crossed his arms. "You''re being pretty forthcoming about your motives for a merchant." She nodded. "It''s times like these that honesty can take you further than deception. I''ll make sure you benefit from this so I can benefit from this too. It''s the best kind of trade." "A win-win," I said. The woman lit up. "Exactly! A win-win. The best kind of trade there is." I sighed. "Alright, tell me your name at least. If we''re going to talk more about this, I''d at least like to know who I''m dealing with." "Of course! My name is Kitaka, a merchant originally from Ironcastle. I''ve been traveling back and forth between Fallow and Ironcastle transporting metals that the other city has less of." The beastkin had long golden-furred cat ears sticking out from her dark brown hair. She was older than us by a bit. She looked like she was probably in her thirties, but in a world of magic and no skincare products, my sense of age was a little skewed. I could tell she wasn''t ''empowered'' like other hunters from the amount of mana in her body either, so she was just a normal merchant. "Helena," I said, holding out my hand for her to shake. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. She smiled and took it immediately. "Another working woman. From your chosen profession, I wouldn''t expect you to have any trouble dealing with me, yet it''s still always nice to be proven correct." I raised an eyebrow. "People have trouble with female merchants?" "In some places, it depends on the culture. Ironcastle isn''t too bad, and Fallow is even better. Dungeon towns like Fallow tend to worry about it the least since many working women are hunters," the woman said with a grin. "They tend to make good customers." "Women that aren''t otherwise happy with their path in life are more likely to be the ones that go off and try to fight monsters. A fairly common story among hunters," Aria said. "Quite," Kitaka agreed with a nod. "Now let me go work on putting a box together for those lightning shards. If we spend too long dallying Korr''tak is going to be upset with us. He''s more anxious than I''d ever seen him before." As she walked away, I turned and saw Luna and Milana closely examining the lightning shards. Luna''s usually paying attention when I''m talking to others, but this time she had been much more interested in the little magic crystals that had formed around the lightning rod. She turned and smiled at me when she noticed me looking at her. ("Helena! You have to tell me what you know about lightning! After watching it last night, I think I might be able to adapt my magic to it.") I chose to have this conversation with her privately. Luckily, we could just talk through the rings rather than having to step aside because someone needed to watch over these lightning shards, so none of them disappeared. ("I don''t mind telling you what I know about lightning and electricity, but I would have thought that mages would have been able to use lightning magic already,") I replied. Luna shook her head wildly. ("No! Lightning mages do exist, so I know that it''s possible, but they''re very rare. Most of them use these lightning shards as foci, but you knew things about the lightning that no one else does! This lightning rod you put together worked too well for it to have been a coincidence!") I smirked. ("So you admit that I knew what I was talking about then. Not just superstition?") Her smile faltered a little, and her ears went back. She chuckled. ("You have to admit... without any knowledge of lightning myself, your claims about copper rods would sound a bit outlandish... Just as knocking on wooden objects wouldn''t ordinarily seem connected to anything...") I laughed. ("Those two things are completely different. But sure, point taken. We don''t have as much time to work together as we did earlier in the trip, but I can tell you what I know about electricity when I can.") ("What exactly is electricity? You''ve said that a few times now in place of lightning. Are they different?") she asked. I rubbed my chin. ("Well, yes and no. Lightning is the way electricity manifests in nature, but electricity has more to do with the energy itself. I guess you can think of electricity as harnessed lightning... or something like that.") Luna bit her lip. ("I know you''ve learned things as a scholar from your previous world, but I suppose it was hard for me to truly see that until now.") I tilted my head in thought. ("I know I don''t seem like the most scholarly type exactly, but I did pretty well in school. Community college isn''t exactly something to brag about, but I did learn a lot.") She nodded. ("Like I told you before, you''re likely much more educated than a lot of others. This was just the first time I truly got to see that.") She giggled. ("Strong and smart. How did I get so lucky running into you?") I took her hand and pulled her into a hug. ("You saved me down in that dungeon just as much as I saved you. We both got lucky.") ("Of course,") she agreed. Kitaka cleared her throat. "I finished putting together a box for the lightning shards... If now isn''t a bad time." I let go of Luna and turned back to Kitaka. "Thank you. I''ll pack these up and talk with you the next time we break for camp." "Sure, I''ll hold you to that! And don''t talk to anyone else about that contraption. Do you need any help taking it apart and packing it on my wagon?" she asked. "Maxwell and I can probably handle it, thanks though." "Of course. Okay, tonight at camp then! I''m looking forward to it!" The catkin bounced off with a spring in her step, and I called Maxwell over to help me take the homemade lightning rod apart. While we were doing that, Luna carefully placed the lightning shards inside the copper-lined wooden box we had been given. While we were working, I noticed that Milana was hovering nearby. I looked her up and down as her snow leopard tail flicked back and forth in anxiety. "Do you need something?" I asked. She cleared her throat. "I was wondering if there would be anything I could do to trade for one of those lightning shards..." Before I could reply, she cut me off, "Oh! But please, I don''t intend to be a bother, so feel free to turn me down. It''s just... one of those would be very helpful to me, and I think that I might be able to help you or your fianc¨¦ with training... or something. Just think about it, please?" I glanced at Luna before looking back. "Are you able to teach Luna silent casting?" Milana suddenly brightened. "Silent casting? Yes! I could teach her that! I''ve never trained someone in silent casting before, but I''m pretty comfortable with it! Perhaps... silent casting and a little training with water and ice magic would be a fair trade?" It was truthfully a bit odd to see the normally cool and collected woman suddenly act more emotively, but I wasn''t sure how much these lightning beads were worth. From her offer, it sounded like a lot. "I''ll talk to my friends about it and get back to you." "Great! Just uh, the sooner the better. I don''t mind spending some time training you after we reach Ironcastle, but there might be some added issues with that..." she said. I waved her off. "That''s fine. I''ll give you an answer tonight. Let me finish packing this up though. We need to get ready to go before Korr''tak gets mad at us." I looked over at Luna, who hadn''t overheard the conversation. She had finished collecting the lightning shards and was now helping Maxwell undo some of the wires connecting the grounding rod to the cable. I hoped for Luna''s sake this is a good trade. Giving her the ability to silent cast would likely be useful.