CH18: A Dungeon's Treasure

Lightning flashed, storm clouds surged, a part of the dungeon opened, and a film crew was on the scene. An obelisk appeared with dungeon writing, and the news kept flipping between big-boobed news anchors and dungeon experts. Councilman Necross appeared with an important announcement.

We were in the waiting room to enter the dungeon filled with other adventurers; some were new, and others were survivors. Apparently, adventurers needed to sign a contract promising to bring a certain amount of loot from the dungeons. The room was filled with some drunk-looking anthros. Most looked more animal than human, unlike the whores from the brothel.

The dungeon's fruit on the 6th floor would ripen in the month. Adventurers who consumed one of the fruit would receive a permanent multiplier to their DEX and CHA stats.

"Good luck getting one; only six ripen at a time, and they draw veterans like flies on shit," Zeff said.

"Do you have to be so negative?" Hati asked.

"It's part of my charm. Tonight I'm going to find a bitch that looks just like you. When I fuck her, I'm going to think of you." Zeff said.

I rubbed my face and stepped between them before they could fight in the middle of the waiting room.

"Zeff, you seem to be a man of culture and knowledge. I have a burning question that only you can answer." I said.

The zebra turned his head to the side and snorted.

"What's your question?" Zeff asked.

"Why do adventures look more like animals, and whores appear differently?" I asked.

"Really, if you wanted to know that, all you had to do was ask one of us bumkin," Azizi said.

"He asked me because I'm a man of learning; unlike the philistines of the clans, I had an education of the nature of stats. The answer is simple and complicated. Beauty is very personal. Charisma and dexterity govern most physical changes. You can get all the constitution you want; it won't make your dick an inch longer. Charisma affects how people see you and alters you until you match your ideal appearance. You have no animalistic features, so you must see those features as completely unattractive. On the other hand, I love my heritage, and no matter how much charisma I get, I will keep a semblance of them. Dexterity isn't just precision; it also minorly affects health regeneration. Your charisma wants to make a change, so your dexterity determines how quickly the change can be made. It doesn't matter how wet a mare is if the stallion isn't ready to mount." Zeff said.

"Most can't aim, so you must be missing something," Hati said.

That was helpful. Dungeons were the only places stat gains could happen from what I knew. Even on the outskirts of the dungeon, our palling around had increased my charisma; I could feel it.

"By the way, be sure to turn off notifications if you don't want screens in your face the whole time," I said.

"That would have been helpful yesterday. Zack was bitten trying to close screens." Azizi said.

Zeff snorted but moved his hands, clearly turning off notifications.

A guard stepped inside and started waving in groups to enter the dungeon.

"Why are we limited to four-man parties?" I asked.

"I don't know; it's just not done from what I know," Azizi said.

"Between 4 and 5, the dungeon doubles encounters. Add a sixth, and the dungeon quadruples the encounter rate to get the message through." Zeff said.

"A zebra that knows things how original," Hati said.