22 – The Magma Lakes Entrance

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The Magma Lakes Dungeon Entrance

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She, Claire, and Lori stared up at the impressive, gaping cavern. Her [Inspect] offered little information besides the complex’s name, as normal for a system-linked point of interest.

Reaching the dungeon had been surprisingly easy. The Hive laid claim to most of the territory surrounding the dungeon, and, despite Claire having a humanoid form, she seemed able to communicate to the monstrous drones that buzzed around through an amusing series of twitching-antennae and waving hands. She had asked for permission for their party travel through, with a reasoning that they wanted to help fight off the dungeon, which had been causing the Hive problems. So they’d been allowed to pass unimpeded.

Which was an unexpected benefit of Ari’s class. She was, it seemed, a person who could have ‘connections’ with the various monster communities indirectly, through her Menagerie. The implications of that … kind of hurt her head. Claire had even offered to give her a tour of the Hive—the Hive proper, inside, where the reigning force of the Honeybee Colony resided. Which was an offer Ari intended to take up, if simply for the novelty.

“Well,” Ari said, hands on her hips, and staring at the dungeon entrance. “Might as well get to it.”

She had informed the Guild of the dungeon’s general location before setting off. She would have first dibs to anything inside the dungeon she could reach … which, admittedly, wouldn’t be much, as a collection of level threes and fours. In the best case, they wouldn’t be making it deeper than the first floor.

But even if they only made it to a few chests, there would be a lucrative array of rewards awaiting them. More than the knick-knacks she’d accrued during her adventurers through the Forest, that was for sure.

Ari was concerned over how the Guild would treat the Hive, seeing how the dungeon was on their territory, but they should be fine. The Hive was, all things considered, a valuable low-level hunting grounds, and a profitable one, so the Guild wouldn’t want them disturbed. Or … destroyed, at least.

Though, the Hive would be seeing higher traffic in this area form the adventurers trekking through to the dungeon entrance. But Ari couldn’t do anything about that. She’d talked with Claire about the situation, and it seemed like while she wasn’t fully happy about things, adventurers suppressing the dungeon would be worth the territory disputes to the Hive. And even if Ari hadn’t reported it—which would’ve been a huge violation—the Guild would’ve found it soon enough. So she wasn’t betraying Claire’s trust in how she’d divulged the dungeon’s location.

“Alright, then. Here we go.”

The descent down the cave’s gloomy entrance was, honestly, a bit unnerving. She’d done appropriate shopping yesterday evening, so they had the supplies they needed. Primarily, shinestone—the poor-man’s favored method of lighting expeditions into dark places—which each of them affixed to their clothes and armor. Though, those wouldn’t be staying on for long. Their clothes, she meant, and so, the shinestone too. They had a lantern which could be set aside for illumination during … fights.

The footing grew tenuous as they ventured down. Water dripped down the walls and pooled on the floor, creating a breeding ground for moss and lichen. The slippery plantlife gave its best effort to have her party stumbling, but taking a slow and careful pace, they kept their balance.

Her eyes scanned the impenetrable darkness, muscles tense to catch and [Transform] whatever might pop out. Though [Transform] was an instant solution to a powerful monster, and therefore would put her party in relative safety, if she didn’t catch the monster before it was on them, then they could be in trouble. Lori and Claire were both in ‘combat form’, just in case.

Something skittered above, and Ari tensed. Her eyes shot up, and—

[Transform].

A burst of white smoke, and the three-feet-long insect fell from the ceiling, hitting the ground with a grunt, but scrambling up and looking fine.

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Silvana - Lv. 4

Worker Ant

{Stimulation: 0/22}

{Pleasure: 0/100}

Constitution: F+

Skill: F+

Charm: F-

===

“Wait,” the antennaed, black-haired girl cried. “I’m just a worker!”

Ari blinked in surprise.

“Oh,” Silvana said. “That’s … how we’re fighting?”

Like usual, the realization was delayed by several seconds, her opponent not receiving the details to Ari’s class until they’d had a second to orient.

“I mean, I guess I can?” Silvana said, perplexed. “But I was just passing by.”

The ant had just been skittering forward across the ceiling … but how was Ari supposed to know it hadn’t been a hostile monster? It had been several feet long, and … well, insects were creepy just by their nature. Of course she’d [Transformed] it.

But she was a worker-type monster? Not a hostile, like everything Ari had fought so far?

Did that mean if she joined Ari’s Menagerie, she wouldn’t have a combat class like Lori and Claire? But a crafting class?

Ari could think about it later. A non-combat monster girl might useful to have for a number of reasons—sating her curiosity, to name the smallest—but despite not being combat-focused, clearly the ant-girl could still contribute to a fight ‘Ari’s way’. She had the stats necessary for it … and the body, and, by her earlier words, the willingness.

Ari looked around the dark cavern entrance, and confirmed nothing else was nearby. She’d have to keep a watch out for if that changed.

“We got lucky,” Ari said to her party. “It’s just her. That means we can draw it out.” Though it hadn’t been her explicit intent entering the dungeon, she’d been wondering what kind of reward a maxed out pleasure bar would give. Now that she had a full party, and a single apparently weak enemy, they might be able to manage it.

“Draw it out?” the ant-girl asked, eyes widening as they flicked between Ari and her teammates.