Chapter 11: Dungeon Sex (4)
Chapter 11: Dungeon Sex (4)
I reached toward the shimmering distortion behind the altar.
The moment my hand touched the warp in the air—
"Whoa?"
My vision shifted instantly.
The dark, damp basement was gone. In its place, I stood in a marshland thick with the stench of rotting water and heavy humidity.
And as soon as I realized where I was, a familiar sound rang out.
Ding!
======================
【Hidden Dungeon Discovered!】
—By tracking the rumors of Gepp City, you have uncovered a terrifying truth!
—The ghost stories are real, and the culprits are the followers of the Confused Unity.
—Defeat the cultists to stop the weakening of the seal... or perhaps clearing the dungeon itself would be wise.
—Either way, the gods will reward your efforts.
======================
"Wow. I finally get to see this."
The notification that pops up upon entering a dungeon.
Since I hadn't dared to step foot in a dungeon until now, I hadn't seen this message once in three years.
However, it seemed the system lacked flexibility. Even though I had skipped all the tedious steps and found the dungeon through an abnormal method, the text was exactly the same as if I had tracked it down normally.
Still, seeing the scripted message was a welcome sight.
With a heart full of emotion, I began pulling items I had prepared out of my inventory one by one. A moment later, Carla followed me in.
"Hic!"
"...Are you still hiccuping?"
"They've... almost stopped now..."
Carla trailed off, looking embarrassed. Yet, even in her shame, she calmly observed her surroundings. It seemed her education at the Academy hadn't gone to waste.
The area where you first step into a dungeon is a sort of safe zone.
Of course, you can't clear it if you just stay there, so you have to move eventually... but you can at least prepare beforehand.
The standard strategy is to assess the surroundings and devise a plan suited to the environment. Since this was taught at the Academy, Carla surely knew it well.
As she stood quietly beside me, gathering her mana, I began handing her the items I had pulled from my inventory.
"No need for detection magic, so cancel that. Drink these first. All of them."
"Potions? Master, it's such a waste to use strengthening potions already... Huh? Another one? Two? No, why do you keep giving me more?!"
"We can just drink another when the effect wears off. I have plenty of stock, so just take them."
I handed the terrified Carla a sequence of potions:
Body Strengthening Potion, Sensory Strengthening Potion, Odor Removal Potion, Stamina Continuous Recovery Potion, and Mana Continuous Recovery Potion.
It was a combination that boosted overall stats, prevented ambushes, and pumped up combat endurance. Back in my gaming days, we called this the "Standard Set."
However, that set prioritized versatility. Fine-tuning was needed for the specifics of each dungeon.
For that reason, I pulled out several scrolls.
"Master? Surely those scrolls aren't...?"
"You guessed it. Activate them all."
"......"
Carla's hands trembled as she reached to tear... then hesitated.
"Um... Master?"
"We're wasting duration. What is it?"
"By... by any chance. Just maybe... you won't sell me off later because you ran out of money, right? Right?"
"Huh?"
"I mean... look at this! You said you're younger than me... and you look like a noble, but you said you aren't one...! If you keep spending money like this, what will happen when it's all gone...?"
"I wondered what you were rambling about."
Obviously, I had no intention of ever reselling Carla. I still had plenty of gold piled in my inventory.
But seeing her so anxious made me want to tease her a little.
"Of course I'll have to sell you if the money runs out."
"Gasp...!"
"But that money is never going to run out."
"Huh...?"
Carla let out a dumbfounded sound and tilted her head.
Watching her shimmering platinum blonde hair sway, I let my lips curl into a smirk.
"Carla, oh Carla. It means you're my slave until the day you die of old age. If you don't want your remaining years of slavery to be miserable, stop worrying about useless things and finish tearing those scrolls."
"Until I die of old age...? Really? Ahem. Well then, it would be rude of me to further question my Master's decisions."
"???"
What the? Why is she happy after being threatened?
I didn't know why, but Carla, now brimming with motivation, began tearing the scrolls one by one.
Whir. Hum. Whirrr.
Lightweight, Haste, Invisibility, Eagle Vision, and Shield.
It was a combination that prevented her from sinking into the marsh, allowed her to land the first strike, and enhanced her vision to increase accuracy. Shield was just a simple insurance policy.
While I watched the stacking buffs on Carla with satisfaction, I downed my own share of potions.
Once she had received every buff, Carla moved her body around and cast simple spells to get used to the heightened sensations.
Her expression was quite serious now, unlike a moment ago.
She really becomes a different person when magic is involved.
Finally, I tore a few necessary scrolls for myself and steeled my resolve.
It was about to begin.
My first dungeon clear in this world.
*
The clear itself was smooth.
Thanks to my Excellent Memory trait, the strategy routes from my gaming days remained vivid even though three years had passed since I fell into this world.
Because of that, we ran toward the boss without rest, taking down the occasional monster we encountered, then running again and taking down the next....
How long did we repeat this forced march?
"Go, Carla! Fireball!"
"O, O Flame! Burn! Explode! Fireball!"
Carla, who had been crossing the marsh with light steps as if running on water, reflexively chanted the spell.
She had used it so many times that it had become ingrained in her body.
Heat gathered atop the staff that sparkled gaudily with gold.
By the time the Big Mouth, which had been mindlessly splashing in the distance, noticed Carla's magic, it was already too late.
A Big Mouth is a monster that, despite being a frog, can't even jump and instead waddles around because of its abnormally large head. Its physical structure makes it inherently sluggish when trying to change directions.
The targeted Big Mouth tried to roll aside at the last second... but it couldn't dodge completely and took the hit right on the side of its head.
KABOOM!
"Gwaaaaark!!"
An explosion engulfed the Big Mouth's massive head.
Then, flames erupted as fiercely as if white phosphorus had been scattered.
The Big Mouth shoved its burning head into the marsh, trying desperately to put it out, but the flames wouldn't die. Instead, because of its flammable mucus, the fire spread across its entire body.
"Gwaaa... k..."
Eventually, the single Big Mouth was consumed by the flames, slowly shriveling into a pile of black ash.
"Ugh... no matter how many times I see this, I can't get used to it. I know Big Mouths are weak to fire magic, but fire that doesn't go out even in water...?"
As Carla said, this was normally impossible.
Fireball is a useful spell because, in addition to fire, it provides physical impact from the explosion and a slight knockback effect.
But it's still just a low-grade spell.
No matter how much of an intermediate magician Carla was, how strong could a spell cast while running really be? However...
"Ring of Oversaturation, Necklace of Flame Spirit, and Bracelet of One Strike. Add a stealth critical on top of that, and it's more than enough for a one-shot kill."
"But it's so inefficient, Master... I thought we'd save these for when we fight the boss monster."
She wasn't wrong.
The Ring of Oversaturation is a magical tool that doubles mana consumption to increase magic power by 1.2 times.
The Necklace of Flame Spirit strengthens fire magic by 20% but increases all mana consumption by 20%.
The Bracelet of One Strike has an effect where, if you pre-charge it with mana, it automatically injects that stored mana into the next spell.
Having been hit by Carla's magic, which had been amplified three times over, there was no way a mid-to-low tier monster like a Big Mouth could survive.
However, Hero & Academy was a game very sensitive to balance.
There were no purely beneficial effects. Everything had a side effect.
Just as the system gave me the Mana Insensitivity Constitution as a starting penalty for making a character with only mage traits.
Power-amplifying magical tools all had terrible efficiency.
That's why the standard was to use them only briefly against powerful foes...
But such minor problems could be solved with money.
"Running low on mana? Then drink a mana potion. Oh, don't worry about potion poisoning. I specifically bought high-grade potions that have almost no toxicity."
"Ugh... another potion..."
"Ah, come to think of it, it's about time to refill your buffs."
When I pulled out the buff potions following the mana potion, Carla's face turned pale.
"W-wait a second, Master! I can literally feel the potions sloshing around in my stomach right now...! You want me to drink more?!"
"Now, now. The efficiency drops significantly if the cycle is broken. We'll be at the boss soon, so this is the last one."
When I uncorked the potion myself and brought it to her lips, Carla shook her head tearfully.
"I can't anymore...! There's... there's no way any more will fit!"
"It's fine. I'm telling you, it'll all fit. Stop complaining and open up."
"N-no... glug, hic..."
Thinking back, she did eat quite a lot at the inn last night. Maybe she hadn't finished digesting that yet.
I felt a little bad, but it couldn't be helped.
I had designed this entire strategy on the premise of being fully buffed.
"Mmph..."
I rubbed Carla's back as she covered her mouth, and we hurried our pace.
.
.
.
.
.
And as expected, it wasn't long before we arrived before the boss.
"I'm going to kill it! I'm going to kill it right now! Then I won't have to drink anymore, right?! Don't stop me, Master!"
"Uh, yeah."
Accompanied by Carla, whose belly was now quite plump.