Chapter 41 – Gaining Some Experience

After a few minutes, Miria and Asterios finally calmed down their breathing. Both of them pushed a few techniques to their limits at the same time. A feat which resulted in the impressive performance they managed to pull off. It certainly wouldn’t be possible for each of them to achieve the same effect alone compared to when they worked together in almost perfect synergy.

Miria took another deep breath and smiled at Asterios who was supporting her with his body. He, in turn, kept stroking her twitching ears. Knowing that she recovered enough already, as they were still deeply connected to each other, he helped Miria stand up.

“So… Do we get anything from that?” she asked while glancing around.

“Besides its core, no. I’ll try to check if any decently valuable parts are worth gathering from what was left of the grasshopper,” Asterios answered.

Seeing them up, Rudy approached the duo with Selene by her side. “We were just unlucky. As he said before, monsters usually don’t drop any specific rewards like Trials do and adventurers just scavenge their cores or what’s left of the corpse. Sometimes the monster itself is really valuable.”

“Is this one of any worth?” Selene joined the conversation.

“Not really. It’s just a bigger and more aggressive version of Sword-legged Grasshopper. But the core should have a good price,” Asterios moved to find it in the piles of mutilated bug parts.

Rudy sighed. “If only it was a Goblin Warchief or something. We would have at least gotten its equipment. And the fight would have been way easier. That grasshopper was pretty much our counter. I think the only worse thing from previous floors would be a Quagmire Behemoth. Bastard is slow as fuck but just getting through all the armour takes ages, and besides the foxgirl here, we don’t have much straight, blunt firepower. Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s not like we are planning to farm here.”

Miria glanced at her curiously. “Farm? Why would anyone want to try planting crops inside a dungeon boss chamber?”

The warrior looked at her with both eyebrows raised and exploded into laughter soon after. Miria could hear a quiet chuckle from behind her, where Asterios was going through all the slimy insides of their past enemy.

Rudy slowly tamed her outburst and returned her gaze to the confused panthergirl while still chuckling a little. “Sorry. It shouldn’t be this funny but the way you asked was just too much, hahaha. Ekhm. I didn’t mean it like that. Adventurers sometimes reach a boss chamber and then repeatedly attempt to conquer it, walking back and forth its entrance whenever the monster spawns again. It’s an especially popular method around the floors or dungeons that have certain rare variants spawning. That’s what we call farming.”

“Ooooooooooh… I wouldn’t have thought of that meaning…” Miria giggled a bit embarrassingly. “So, if we took the Goblin Warchief you mentioned before as an example, to farm it, we would have to go back and forth and kill it again and again and we would be able to pick up its gear every time, yes?”

“Simply speaking, yes. But don’t forget that the boss monster can be any one of the enemies we met above, so the chances to stumble on the one we want to hunt are not that high. People do it nevertheless if the worth still offsets the wasted time. And also, there’s one more thing. The Dungeon Core is not ignorant of what is happening. When it notices its Guardians getting repeatedly annihilated in short intervals, it will definitely intervene and throw much stronger enemies into that chamber. We call it a farming cap. I think it was around fifteen to twenty tries for this floor.”

Miria consumed all the interesting knowledge with sparkling eyes while Rudy showed a wry smile. She wasn’t used to this kind of attention. It was usually Tesser who explained everything about dungeons and monsters to them and she was just repeating what she heard from him during their many travels. It was slightly uncomfortable and embarrassing. She wondered how Asterios could deal with this kind of stare so easily.

The person in question finally finished their hide-and-seek game with the magical core and walked up to everyone.

“Well said. Maybe you should take my role of explaining things from now on? You are an experienced adventurer and I’m a newbie in the end,” he said with a smile.

“Oh, hell no! You - brain, me - muscle. Hack, slash, smash! Thinking! Hard!” Rudy comically emphasized her preferred position, making everyone laugh, herself included.

“Alright. Let’s get out before the Core decides to kick us out with a stronger mob. I got what I could.” Asterios turned to Miria and plopped a hand onto her head. “Go back home and get some rest. We can make it to the surface alone.”

“But…”

“I know you are fine, but you’ve earned it. And you need a shower. There are monster intestines all over you. Besides, Rudy didn’t get much action during our trip, she deserves some fun too. Go. We can always talk mentally.”

She glanced herself all over and blushed a little. Hardly any visible part of her skin and fur was uncovered by greenish fluids. No surprise there with how she was literally flying through them shortly before.

Miria shyly looked away and nodded her head. “Okay. Call me whenever. I’ll rush to your side immediately, Master.” She stepped in front of Asterios and left a quick peck on his lips, hastily jumping into the shadowy portal before anyone noticed her red face. Rudy just rolled her eyes while Selene chuckled.

They walked to the door they entered through and opened them to leave. There was no other party waiting for their turn this time. After they stepped outside, the chamber got locked again. Even if someone tried sneaking in while people were walking out, only one pair of doors could be opened after the boss died so they would just get imprisoned there until a new monster appeared. Most Cores weren’t that stupid.

It took them an hour and a half to reach the surface and Rudy definitely had much more fun now that all the vanguard responsibilities fell on her and Asterios agreed to work around her as the main pillar of the party instead of Selene. They would have made it faster that way, but he didn’t mind a slightly slower pace. Ast was curious about Rudy’s true abilities so it wasn’t a complete waste and she did show him a fair deal of Warrior techniques and skills he’d mostly seen or read about in books.

Outside, it was already late night so they decided to meet the next day near the Skewed Skewers stall by the Guild’s tent and go sell the cores and other stuff together. They said their goodbyes and Rudy left towards her tent-inn. Selene accompanied Asterios on the way to his resting place. They soon reached it and he turned around to face her.

“Thank you for today, Selene. I got a decent grasp of your abilities and fighting style. I’m really glad you joined us.”

She bowed with a light smile. “The pleasure is all mine, my Lord. I’m thankful you allowed me to do so after the disgraceful behaviour I’ve shown you that day.”

“It’s okay. We all have our bad moments. We should focus on the present and future. And you don’t need to act so respectfully all the time.”

“I’ll do my best then.”

“Same here. I’ll try to help you as much as I can. Don’t forget to do the exercises I’ve told you about. We’ll try stimulating the circuits after you hit a wall with what you can achieve alone. Just don’t rush it,” Asterios said with a kind smile.

Selene nodded with her almost iconic, calm smile present on her face. Asterios could notice her being very happy and excited hearing his words, not only via their connection but also from her bushy tail’s lively dances. It looked like she couldn’t control that part as perfectly as she wanted.

“Alright, I shouldn’t hold you here unnecessarily long. See you later.” They both nodded and a portal arose from the ground. Before Selene walked into it though, she stopped for a moment and gazed into the night sky. “Something still on your mind?” Ast asked.

She turned around and shook her head. “No, I was just thinking about Miria and pondering if you are an amazingly lucky or unlucky man.”

He chuckled. “Where did that come from?”

“Her usual behaviour and way of being.”

Asterios was getting curious. “Is it something abnormal?”

Selene returned her gaze to the stars. “I wouldn’t say that. More like very rare. You see, we live in a strength-based society for the most part, even in the Spiritual Foxes Tribe. So most of us are quite prideful, straightforward, bold, extroverted and maybe sometimes rash. And then there are those that are additionally Werebeasts. Their ferocious bloodline influences their personality even more. Yet, the one Pantherkin that you have summoned and which fell in love with you is the shyest, most timid and embarrassed girl I’ve ever seen in my whole life. If it were any other of her or different kind, they would be all over you during any time of the day or night. Miria can barely leave a small kiss on your lips in front of others, and I could bet she is not much different when alone, right? So I’m wondering if it was luck or the opposite for my Lord to find such a lover. And also how she ended up like that.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “If I were to answer, then I’m definitely incredibly lucky to have met her. I’ve summoned a girl who literally dreamt of getting herself into such a situation. And I think that’s also partially why she is who she is. In the end, Miria grew up on the tale of your Princess as far as I know.”

Selene nodded. “Well… I can see how that could work.”

“You are telling me that most of your kind is much bolder towards others and their mates, but it’s not like I really care about that or dislike Miria’s personality, and she knows that well. I’m kind of a withdrawn person myself so I can see how our approaches aren’t that compatible, but it doesn’t matter as long as she is happy. I enjoy my time with her too. All of it. No matter the level of affection or skinship.”

“I see. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, my Lord. I’ll now excuse myself.” 

~My job here is done, ufufu.~ Selene’s voice resounded in his head as she bowed and gracefully walked into the crimson gate.

The moment she disappeared, and before it could fully collapse, another one opened just by its side and a person flew out of it, crashing into Ast’s chest. Two furry hands hugged his back and Miria’s face nuzzled into his neck affectionately.

“Master…”

Asterios sighed with a smile forming on his lips and moved his hand to the top of the snuggly girl’s head.

「This woman. She knew Miria would start eavesdropping the second her name popped up and used that to give her a push. I’ve been had, haha.」

As he was petting her, Miria glanced up at him with a shy smile too. Her eyes darted away for a moment before refocusing back on Ast’s and she started raising her head with rosy cheeks. Sensing her intention, Asterios leaned down a bit and met Miria in the middle, where they joined their lips in a soft kiss. After a minute of gentle pecking, she moved her face back to rest on Ast’s shoulder.

“I wish I could be bolder…” she whispered.

He chuckled and brushed her cheek. “Once in two weeks is enough.” Reminded of her words and actions from that night, she grew even redder. “But I’ll do my best to help with this issue of yours, even though I completely don’t mind it.”

Miria backed away and Ast extended his hand towards her. Still blushing, she took it and they walked to the big tent together while holding hands. Even with all this nervousness, Miria got used to Ast’s presence enough already to comfortably fall asleep in his arms without him urging her to relax. Not without lots of cuddles beforehand. She loved feeling his hands on her fur and back.

The next day, after a good morning kiss, Miria jumped back to her realm. She had taken Ast’s advice to not ignore her peers and family to her heart and decided to start spending more time in her homeworld. Of course, watching over her master almost all the time and waiting for him to call her to his side. They also had Selene on their team now so Miria didn’t have to be as worried about Asterios as before.

Ast met up with Rudy at their appointed stall and shared a quick meal in the form of a few meaty skewers. It looked like the muscular woman was into some really spicy stuff as he recognized in her portions a few of the strongest peppers the Human continent had to offer in this region. Unfortunately, he himself could barely stand any of that stuff, even the weakest spices.

With their tummies full, the temporary duo lined up for the queue and chatted about various things while waiting. Rudy was intent on joining Ast’s team for the time it would take the rest of her squad to finish the task they took. Explaining that she would much rather have some fun with people she knew rather than boorishly earn money with some randoms, she tried to make him agree on the idea of exploring the upper floors together to gather experience for him and his girls.

He knew very well that all of this was just a cover and the real reason was completely different. It was obvious that Rudy wanted to spend more time around Selene. They achieved quite a decent cooperation yesterday without Miria being present and the warrior definitely enjoyed that short period of closeness.

In the end, he agreed as there was nothing that could be considered against the idea. A few days in the dungeon with someone experienced was definitely a plus, even with his knowledge and preparations. 

They cashed in all the cores from the monsters they hunted, alongside part of the materials from their carcasses, and split the money equally. In total, they earned almost two gold coins. Deathscythe Grasshopper seemed to be a quite uncommon spawn in that boss chamber and the core was currently priced a bit higher than usual.

For the next few days, the four-man party delved into the dungeon together. Asterios used this opportunity to try out various spells and techniques he was never able to attempt before and his two familiars worked on their cooperation. 

Miria practised the new Aerial Dance to the level allowing her to comfortably link it with Haste, both when controlled by Asterios or her, and gained a very beneficial base for future moves they would come up with. Speed was her forte before, but it only worked when she had ground under her feet. Creating footholds in the air fixed that problem and her manoeuvrability grew by leaps and bounds.

As for Selene, Asterios came up with a few techniques that would boost the efficiency of her abilities, their power output, lower the time she needed to gather spiritual energy and in general supported that area, of course training some basic ones like Haste with her too. But, as their magician, or rather Spiritualist, she focused on ranged skills. Since she controlled mana directly, it was in huge part left to her imagination, which was now supplied with many ideas Asterios shared with her through their connection. Knowledge from a different realm helped by a lot just by itself.

The Summoner’s Harem, as Rudy jokingly named their temporary party with only a single male member, reached the tenth floor during their advances. They were focusing on training and learning about dungeons, monsters, fighting strategies and such, but their cooperation was so good after the first two days that they zoomed through the highest floors without breaking a sweat and had to delve a bit lower for some challenge.

They encountered a few Trials and either Miria or Selene’s nose found a hidden passage or two, but they didn’t gain anything too noteworthy inside these. The experience of fighting a swarm of enemies was what counted though. After a serious discussion, everyone agreed on the suggestion of taking down the 10th-floor boss. They felt confident, but not overconfident.

Asterios made sure they stocked up every necessary consumable and important item before going into the dungeon. Each member of the party revised their equipment properly. Rudy even got herself new bracers and greaves out of reinforced leather they found in a stand-alone shop of one of the adventurers. It was an amazing deal.

The Guild employee informed them about Decondensation Pills, which supposedly reduced the effect of the ‘Stupor’, as that feeling of sluggishness after spending a night in the dungeon was named, but since this was a camp right by the structure, their price was hugely inflated. Not wanting to take any avoidable risks, they decided to get one for each of them and spent one-third of their previous earnings.

Others were a bit surprised that Rudy hadn’t mentioned them and she explained herself by saying that they usually didn’t sleep in the dungeon in their main party and she just completely forgot about them. No one was angry at her. It wasn’t like they would travel somewhere further to get them cheaper, and it was obvious the price would be only slightly lower in the nearby village. Asterios and Miria already experienced their first night and they then weren’t hindered too much by exploring for two consecutive days.

Ready as much as they could, be it with intel or equipment, the party delved into the dungeon on their previous to last day together. Tesser informed Rudy with a mental message that they wouldn’t need more than two from that point. They easily pushed through the first five floors and defeated the Guardian in the boss chamber. It was a feeble Goblin Warmage. Poor thing got overpowered by Selene and hacked into bits by the two swordswomen.

Floors six to ten took them a bit more time and they then spent their night in the tenth’s floor safe zone. After taking the pill in the morning, at least by their assumption, the group headed for the boss chamber. Even though there were not as many adventurers as on the floors above, the queue to the Guardian’s room was considerably big. Many strong parties were rushing down and they had to wait for around an hour for their turn.

Finally, Ast’s team made it through a familiar-looking wooden gate and marched into the spacious cave. Everyone took their positions and the towering doors closed behind their backs. Now, they had to figure out which monster’s powered-up version they would be facing. From what Asterios gathered, out of all the possibilities, there was only one that could give them a run for their money. Surely, they wouldn't be as unlucky to encounter their worst enemy again as it happened during their first try of the 5th floor.