I Must Get Stronger! (1) - The First Plan
I Must Get Stronger! (1) - The First Plan
[Slither... Creak....]
In the abyssal darkness where not a single ray of light existed.
Something crawled up her ankle.
A terrifyingly cold and slimy sensation.
"Ugh... Ah... No...."
She thought, 'I have to run away—' but
as if bound by invisible restraints, she couldn't move a muscle,
[Swoosh-]
Dozens of wriggling 'Tentacles' wrapped tightly around Rose's naked body.
Tentacles?
How do I know, when I can't even see them?
I don't know, that—
But these are Tentacles.
Disgusting, horrible, repulsive—
But.
"Haaah...! Hmph... Ugh...!"
What escaped her lips was a heated moan, completely different from her thoughts.
Even amidst the terror of being unable to see or move, her body inevitably ignited the sparks of pleasure.
[Slurp-]
To make that small spark even more intense,
tiny protrusions attached to the tips of the Tentacles licked her nipples,
[Slick-]
as they passed her slender waist and delved into the soft flesh of her inner thighs,
[Haa-ung...]
her body, which had been trembling in fear, was now heated up,
and Rose herself was twisting her hips, desiring stronger friction.
And finally.
Two wriggling Tentacles, as if alive and breathing, simultaneously approached the intimate openings in front and back, which were already wet and slick.
[Thrust-! Thruuust-!!!]
"Haaaaaah-!!"
Insertion without hesitation.
It hurts- I hate it so much-
No, I like it- Do more-
[Squish! Creak! Squiiish!]
As if hearing the voice of her heart,
the Tentacles mercilessly burrowed in, violating both front and back simultaneously.
Directly knocking on her cervix,
with the violent friction of forcibly spreading her anus and entering, Rose's eyes rolled back, showing only white.
"No...! I'm, I'm coming...! Aah!"
With a 'Whoosh-' sound, a gush erupted,
and at that very moment she was floundering in the tidal wave of climax—
[Crunch-!]
"......!!!!"
Suddenly, a terrible foreign sensation pierced her throat.
No, it was not just a simple foreign sensation.
It was a vivid and terrifying sensation of death, like a sharp blade piercing through her neck and emerging.
"Cough... Gasp...!"
Hot blood gushed out like a fountain,
and the pain of life crumbling as her breath was cut off, mixed with the pleasure of climax, directly struck Rose's mind.
"Aargh-!!"
Rose screamed and abruptly sat up.
Gasping for ragged breaths as if her lungs would tear, she reflexively clutched her neck.
"Haa... Haa... Haa...."
Smooth skin.
No pierced wound, no gushing blood.
Her entire body was drenched in cold sweat, and her heart was pounding madly, as if it would break her ribs and leap out, but.
This too was proof of life.
As her blurry vision, which had lost focus, slowly regained stability, Rose realized she was sitting on an unfamiliar bed.
In a spacious and luxurious room with a plush mattress and soft lighting.
'This is... the Lord's castle...?'
Fragmented memories flooded into her confused mind.
The West Iron Mine.
The giant Monster Golem.
And the Monster that appeared from the darkness.
Herself and Risolde, violated while hanging from Tentacles.
'Right... I pierced its neck with a rapier.'
That terrible sensation of death she felt at the last moment of the nightmare.
It wasn't just a dream.
When she poured her pleasure into the Monster's brain through the [Sensory Synchronization] Skill,
the 'pain of death' that it felt had flowed back to Rose through the skill's connection line.
Recalling that bizarre sensation of climax pleasure and death pain being transmitted simultaneously, Rose dry-heaved again and trembled.
"It seems you had a nightmare."
"...!!"
A voice suddenly spoke.
Startled, she turned her head, and
what she saw in the armchair a little distance from the bed was—.
"Though it didn't seem entirely painful, you know. Hehehe."
Balthazar, the Lord of Deluna, was sitting with his legs crossed.
Wearing his usual frivolous and lecherous smile.
"Lord-nim...? How did I get here...?"
"Two days."
Balthazar stood up and approached Rose's side.
"You and Risolde didn't return even after two days had passed since you left for the mine to subjugate the monsters. Knowing Risolde's skill, I usually wouldn't worry, but... somehow, I had a bad feeling. So I went myself and brought you two out. It turned out to be a good thing. If I had been a little later, it would have been dangerous. And as a bonus, I got to admire your naked body. Uhuhuhu."
Ignoring his last words, which he uttered stickily,
Rose quickly turned her head and surveyed her surroundings.
And on the opposite side, beyond Balthazar,
upon finding the black-haired female warrior deeply asleep, breathing evenly, she let out a sigh of relief.
"Is Risolde... alright?"
"All external injuries have been treated. However, because she squeezed out her mana to its absolute limit, she's suffering from severe Mana Exhaustion Sickness. There's no medicine for this, so we can only wait for her to recover and wake up on her own. It will probably take a few more days."
"I also... drew out mana to my limit... How did I regain consciousness...?"
"Did you kill that Tentacle Monster?"
"Yes. With my last remaining strength, I pierced its neck."
"Then that explains it. The moment its breath was cut off, the mana it held would have entered your body. That immense amount, surpassing the mana you possessed, flowing in, would have almost completely alleviated your Mana Exhaustion Sickness. Losing consciousness, unlike Risolde, would have simply been due to your body's injuries and fatigue."
"Ah..."
It was certainly true.
Her body ached all over, and she was drenched in cold sweat from the aftermath of the nightmare, but.
There was no feeling of exhaustion due to mana deficiency.
No, the density of mana flowing through her body felt much denser and more intense.
"That's a relief.... Risolde is safe, and I've survived like this...."
"Well. But it's truly a pity."
"...Huh? What are you going to say now—"
Even in this situation, talking about naked bodies and whatnot,
is that all this man has in his head?
With that thought, just as she was about to narrow her eyes and glare at the Lord.
"That you killed that Monster in one go."
Instantly, the air in the room froze.
Rose gasped at the chilling sensation that pricked her skin.
Balthazar.
An old lecher with a potbelly, drooling whenever he saw a pretty woman.
He still wore a seemingly sloppy smile, but.
A fierce glint emanating from his wrinkled eyes.
If one could kill a person with their gaze, wouldn't it be exactly that expression—
"With my own hands, tearing off each limb of that worm-like bastard, chewing its guts alive, I should have slowly, painfully torn it to death."
"......"
At the old Lord's pure rage, which she had never seen before, Rose trembled without realizing it.
"Ah, my—"
Seeing her, Balthazar's gaze returned to its original state.
That of a lecher.
"An old man couldn't control his emotions and acted foolishly. Making a beauty tremble is enough in bed, you know. Wahahaha!"
"Um... Because Risolde was injured... you were so angry..."
"Rose-yang."
Balthazar, who had stood up, walked to the side of the bed and carefully brushed the hair from sleeping Risolde's forehead.
"Become stronger. Make the mana you absorbed this time completely your own, and become strong enough never to suffer such a fate again."
"......Yes."
"And if possible, try not to die or get terribly injured like this."
A bitter smile spread across Balthazar's lips.
"If you were to die or get hurt... how terribly Lucian would rage, I don't even want to imagine."
"Yes... I'll keep that in mind."
Several more days passed after that.
Recuperating in the Lord's castle, Rose's body recovered at an astonishing speed.
No, it went beyond simple recovery and was closer to evolution.
Thanks to absorbing the immense mana of the intermediate Monster, Rose felt an incomparably vast amount of mana within her, compared to before.
Even if she focused her consciousness slightly on her fingertips, she could feel the air in the room sharpen acutely.
However, Risolde still hadn't woken up.
Balthazar reassured Rose, saying, "There's nothing to worry about; it's the process of the mana vessel healing itself," but.
Surprisingly, that lecherous Lord spent most of his time by Risolde's bedside.
Towards Rose, he would always crack the same lewd jokes, but,
knowing that his concern for Risolde was genuine, Rose would just frown and let it pass. (Balthazar, however, liked it even more each time.)
And seeing Balthazar like that, a thought came to her mind.
- If you were to die, I don't even want to imagine how much Lucian would rage.
'Really... would he?'
She knew he cared for her and worried about her.
But... becoming a Guardian was also because she had half-forced herself upon him, and even when she asked to accompany him, he had firmly refused, hadn't he left Rose alone in this harsh world?
'Even if I die... would he really rage like Balthazar? Or would he just be sad that a pitiful life had disappeared?'
She couldn't know. But one thing was certain.
'I must get stronger.'
That overwhelming despair she faced in the mine.
Defeating it was due to several fortunate coincidences, and if things had gone slightly wrong...
she would have been helplessly violated and died, becoming that Tentacle Monster's flesh-toy.
Even to stand by Lucian's side,
no, at least not to be a burden to him, she needed more power than she had now.
Rose firmed her resolve, and after informing a castle attendant that she would be going out, she headed to Deluna's bustling street.
Her first effort to get stronger.
[Jingle-]
"Welcome... Cough! Kehek!"
As she opened the door and entered the 'Stardust General Store',
the Dwarf Pankus, who had been sitting at the counter leisurely drinking tea, coughed with a shrill sound.
"Ah, no! What brings you here again?! Ri, Risolde?"
"I came alone today. It's nice to be welcomed so enthusiastically."
As if distrustful, Pankus, who had been looking around behind Rose, narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Rose.
What is it with that look, as if he's seeing a troublesome customer?
He was the one who got caught trying to overcharge for an item and had to sell it at the regular price, yet he's acting like the victim—
Swallowing her inner thoughts,
Rose smiled and approached the counter.
"I came to look at some items."
"Items?"
"Yes. This time, not adventure items like Expansion Pouches or Transformation Cloaks. Something that can be used directly in combat."
"......Combat equipment?"
Pankus repeated those words, and soon his expression hardened.
"Miss, you've come to the wrong place. I absolutely detest making bloody blades or lethal weapons. That's why I run this junk general store. If you need weapons, go to the blacksmith near the plaza."
"Aw, come on, you're a 'Production-type Guardian' after all. Even if it's not strictly weapons or armor, isn't there anything that could help in combat?"
As Rose leaned close to the counter and looked up with wide eyes, Pankus cleared his throat and avoided her gaze.
A gentle tone, unlike before.
A subtle eye-smile that made the youthful (50-year-old) Dwarf's heart pound.
"Ahem... I really don't have weapons. But if it's something that could help in combat...."
Muttering to himself and pondering for a moment, Pankus soon took something out from under the counter and placed it on the table.
An elaborately crafted 'Gauntlet' made of dark blue leather, designed to cover the forearm.
"What is this? An Ogre's Gauntlet that monstrously increases strength, something like that?"
"Tsk tsk, this isn't some common item."
"Then what is it?"
"It doesn't increase strength, but amplifies the mana waves emitted by the wearer. If an ordinary person uses it, it's just a glove. But if a Guardian like us uses mana, they can exert several times the usual power with the same amount."
"Wow..."
Rose's eyes lit up.
"I absolutely love it! How much is it?"
"...Five Gold Coins."
"......"
"Ah, it's true! I didn't inflate the price this time! Even if you ask Risolde, she'd admit this is the fair price?!"
"Alright, alright. I'll believe you."
He has a record, so she couldn't trust him -
but she had saved money last time -
After obediently paying the money and putting the Gauntlet on her left arm,
[Hummm-]
the leather itself contracted and adhered tightly to Rose's slender forearm.
As she gently channeled mana through her fingertips, she felt the flow of air amplify.
"Amazing... Do you have anything else like this?"
"No, no. Even that Gauntlet is a prototype I barely finished a few days ago."
Pankus collected the Gold Coins and shook his head.
"Then... if you just have the materials and time, you could make another amazing thing, couldn't you?"
"Well... with my genius brain and dexterity, nothing is impossible, but..."
Rose placed her left hand, wearing the Gauntlet, on the counter and leaned her body over it.
[Jiggle-]
Her soft breasts squashed on her arm,
and a dizzyingly revealed deep cleavage appeared between the tunic that parted on both sides.
"...Gulp..."
"Please, Pankus."
Added to that, a gentle and sticky voice.
"From now on, please make truly amazing artifacts, perfectly suited for me. You never know, right?"
Rose's red lips formed a seductive arc.
"If you truly make something amazing that I absolutely love... then instead of money, I might be able to pay with 'something else'."
"......Uh, uh... um...."
She didn't use her Lust Skill.
But the youthful Dwarf in front of her,
couldn't take his eyes off her white flesh, rising and falling with every breath on the table,
and as if enchanted, he could only nod his head.
< Illustration - You never know, right? >
