Chapter 186

-POV Mrs. Taylor-

I think I was forgotten…

That Sue woman was supposed to take me to see my brother yesterday, but I asked around and it seems she left for some reason. I’m hoping he’s made enough Credits to help me out a little. My pointy eared daughters are enjoying life away from the pillories though. We’re still staying together for now, but I think they’ll be able to go their own ways eventually. Nobody here is able to tell me what happened to my husband. I’ll probably have to assume the poor man didn’t make it. He was always pretty small and a picky eater. Once I know for sure, it should be okay to start looking for a new man to take care of me. Maybe with the Credits from Stan I can open a bakery so all the wonderful chubby men come to me…

-POV End-

Opal’s Bunny body

After breakfast, Jessica goes into her dungeon, Citrine flies Amber back to Opal’s Home, and I walk to my daughter’s office while the sun rises.

Last night and this morning were pretty fun, but now I guess I have to do important stuff for a few hours. The streets already have a few people walking around, and when I start getting closer to the office, people are setting up stalls with items they found in different dungeons. It works a bit differently in Opal’s Home. There everyone keeps what they need and leaves the rest in specific chests near the entrance of the dungeon. Anyone can go through the chests and keep anything useful. Items like the stat increasing potions don’t usually last long, since there are always new kids needing them. I don’t even look through them, since I’m sure other people would need anything in the chests more than me. Being squishy is difficult for kids.

Here everyone keeps all their stuff and tries to trade it with other people for Credits or items. Jessica says it actually makes more Credits for her that way. Kind of like how when pigs are made with stamina at the pen and I get Credits based on how much is spent. I don’t really need Credits that often though, so I think it’s fine to keep it the way it is in my Citadel. Maybe I’ll check these stalls some time when I’m free and buy stuff that no one else wants.

When I get to Jessica’s office, Pops and Sam are already there. “We’ll need a 7th tier to go along just to be safe.” Pops finishes telling Jessica something and she responds “Alright, see if someone from the Dungeoning Group is interested. We need to keep our 7th tier Guards on the walls. As you know, we’re overdue for a large horde.” There aren’t a lot of 7th tiers here in Barrier, so if she expects zombies to attack soon, I wouldn’t ask them to leave somewhere either.

I’ve heard the Dungeoning Group mentioned before in meetings. They’re basically a bunch of people who like exploring the different dungeons here, and have higher than average tiers because of it. Last time I heard they didn’t have any 7th tiers, so they must have just advanced. I know how hard it is to level after that, so I interrupt saying “I can help with whatever it is. You might not realize, but being low level in 7th tier is worse than being high level in the 6th for stats.”

They turn to me and Pops says “Opal, that would be great. Would save me a lot of trouble too. Do you need her for anything Jessica?” My brown haired daughter shakes her head and answers “I just need her here when Citrine gets back with Cindy. She’s right about the Group’s 7th tiers being low level. I hadn’t taken it into account.” She then turns to the other man and says “Sam, get someone to add a section to the manual about not gaining levels from board quests once in 7th tier.” I’m not sure what manual she’s talking about, but I feel smart bringing something up that my smarter daughter forgot.

Pops then tells me while I’m wiggling “One of the volunteer groups found an unlisted monster den of a type we aren’t used to. I wanted to send a 7th tier with the soldiers in case something powerful managed to grow there.” I nod, since that’s why we are searching for the unlisted ones in the first place. I wonder what the monster is, so I ask and he replies “They’re big ass spiders, so maybe nest would be a better term than den in this situation.” I’m not sure what a spider is, so I ask Pops and he describes them to me. Oh, so like those little bugs I see crawling on the walls sometimes. He says these ones are bigger than me though, so I might not be able to just squish them with my hand. Some of my daughters really don’t like them in our house.

He adds that I should be careful of webs, which are sticky strings of some kind, and poison. Poison won’t be a problem for me, but I should keep the people coming with me from getting bit just in case. Should I have Citrine fly one of my bodies at Opal’s Home here after dropping Amber off? I ask Pops “How far away is the nest? Citrine told us earlier that her and Cindy should be back by tonight.” He scratches at his beard before answering “The squad should be able to make it there and back in a few hours. If we take into account the fighting… As long as there aren’t too many spiders, you should make it back before dark.”

It will probably be fine not to then. Morganite was going to get her sisters and me pregnant today, so Citrine carrying one of my bodies here would push that back a few hours at least. Jessica says “Go ahead and take her to the squad. Have them leave right away.” He nods and leads me out of the office. I hear Sam say behind me “Do we know what they’re asking for yet?” I can’t make out my daughters response since we’re already too far away. Thinking about it, I remember anyone who found a hidden camp could make a request. I wonder what they’ll want, but I don’t know who found it.

As we get to a building next to the gate, Pops leads me inside and introduces me to the squad. “Opal here will be going with you to wipe out the spiders. If it gets too much for you, let her know.” This group seems to just be elves, and the one with the fanciest looking armor is a man with blonde hair. It’s not one of the more common hair colors among the family. Pops then turns to me and says “Let them do the fighting unless it gets out of control. They’ll need the experience for next time we run into spiders.” I nod. I like fighting, but I know if it’s not dangerous they’ll be able to grow much more from it than I would. “Your on a time limit, so get it done quickly if possible. As always though, surviving is your biggest priority.” Pops tells us before sending us out of the city.

The squad is quiet until we make it into the forest, where one of the women in the squad says “I hate spiders.” The men in the squad laugh in response. It seems to break the silence though, and one of the other women asks me “So you must be 7th tier then. What kind of fighting do you specialize in?” I answer with a smile “I like to smash stuff with my fists, and sometimes my feet.” The blonde man says “So a brawler then. I don’t envy the mess that must make of your clothes, but it’s got to be effective if you’ve made it to 7th tier.” We’re running so I can’t exactly wiggle. I just smile and nod in response.

I think I’ve gotten used to being dirty with blood and guts. I remember it bothering me more when I first woke up in the forest over a year ago. I learn that they were picked for the spiders because their whole squad is 6th tier and has more experience with monster dens and camps than with dungeons. I guess most people do tend to level in dungeons since quests from the board are so limited. If I were trying to find the spiders by myself I’d probably get lost without quest arrows. So hearing how experienced they are with it makes me more at ease.

About two hours later

“We’re almost there. Everyone stop and recover your stamina. We’ll be heading in once everyone is topped up.” The blonde leader of the squad orders. My stamina is fine since I have so much of it and regeneration is percentage based. Having so many bodies definitely has it’s benefits. One of the men responds while breathing heavily “I’m going to need at least 30 boss. I burned more than half my tank keeping up with everyone.” One of the women makes a comment about mages that I don’t quiet understand, but they seem to be getting along.

The leader approaches me and asks “Can I talk to you in private?” I agree, wondering what he could want, and hear some of his squad snicker as he leads me out of sight. Once we’re a little ways away from everyone else, he stops and says “So I heard you bunnies like to fuck. We have half an hour, so how about a quickie?”

About 20 minutes later

I lick my lips as we walk back to the rest of the squad. Stamina is important, so I didn’t let him waste it having sex with me. Instead I gave him a blowjob. I’m a bit disappointed in my own performance, since I thought it would only take a few minutes. I think I need more practice with penises that aren’t over-sized or on monsters. He seemed to enjoy it though, and I got a few more free points so it was better than just standing around. “Thanks for that Opal, and don’t worry about it, you’ll get better with practice.” I smile and wiggle at his encouragement. If I had just ridden him like usual, I wouldn’t be aware of an area I needed improvement.

His squad mates all have smirks when we get back, and the man who said he needed 30 minutes says “I think Opal has a skill that increased my regeneration. I’m already topped up and ready to go Captain.” I have a lot of skills, and I think I remember a few that increase the regeneration of allies while I’m having sex… It’s probably one of those.

A few minutes later, I’m watching as they all charge out of the woods towards what looks like a cave. There are a few of the large leggy things that I can see from here. They do look gross when they’re this big. I can kind of understand now why my daughters hate them so much. The squad quickly takes care of the ones outside and head into the large entrance poked up from the ground. I follow behind them so I can keep a more watchful eye. The walls inside are made out of natural gray stone, and I do spot some white stuff on the walls like Pops warned, but none of it is in the way or trying to tangle us up. After the initial rush, the leader pulls everyone back out of the cave.

He says “Freed, Karen. You two cover the entrance. Daren, check if they’re venomous.” I thought they were just going to keep pushing until the spiders were gone. I’m not used to checking stuff like that. I guess I wouldn’t know how anyway, but watching the man cut open one of the dead spider’s head is kind of interesting. He digs out pieces and fiddles with it for about a minute before announcing “It doesn’t have any glands, but they might still have the magical kind. Paula, get ready in case I need your skill.” He then stabs his own arm with a large spider fang.

30 seconds later he says “Okay Captain, no signs of venom. That fang shape will make it hard to escape if you get bit though.” The way they do things is so much different from me, that I can’t help but be surprised. It does seem to take a while, so I hope we aren’t too late in getting back to Barrier. I can’t blame them for trying to be safe though. They kill a few more spiders that are coming out of the cave before going back in, and I follow behind.

The cave seems really long, but there aren’t any side passages to worry about which is nice. I get distracted looking at the patterns of the white web stuff on the walls. “EVERYONE RUN!” I hear the leader yell and snap out of my appreciation. It must be something dangerous, so I motion them past me and say “I’ll cover your backs!” As I follow behind them I hear the skittering of a lot of legs behind me, and feel the ground shaking. Dust falls from the ceiling and I see cracks forming, so I don’t think staying in here will be safe for much longer.

Luckily we make it out of the cave, but the squad keeps running. I’m about to yell and ask what’s going on when the spiders chasing us burst out of the cave entrance and I feel the ground under me shake more violently. “KEEP RUNNING!” the leader yells this time, so I follow them, but look over my shoulder at our pursuers. They don’t look like they’d be an issue. Sure, more and more of them are pouring out of the cave, but they’re just squishy spiders.

The ground shakes again and I hear a loud cracking sound before the cave behind us explodes, sending large boulders flying in all directions. I punch one of them that flies towards the mage man who needed a longer break, but it’s the only chunk that threatens the running squad. I had to stop and turn to get a good hit on it, so I’m facing the direction of the explosion and notice something gigantic rising out of the ground, obscured by billowing dust. My eyes go wide and I hear a familiar chime.

Ding!

Warning: Hidden Area Boss Awoken!

Title earned

A title already and we didn’t even have to fight it? That’s pretty strange, and the different color is new. The usual blue color of the flatbox, now a dark red. I watch as the giant shadow rises higher than the obscuring dust and get a better look at the thing.

Ding!

New Quest!

Survive.

Rewards: 5 Levels, Title

I see waves of an uncountable number of spiders climbing out of the huge hole created by the boss. It’s enormous head turns our direction with it’s many eyes, and I don’t think the squad will be able to escape from something that size.

I’ll have to slow it down.