Chapter Eleven: Diving the Dungeon

Walking into Anathema's home, I find a rather unexpected sight. In the corner of the room is Jessica, a panicked expression on her face as she holds up one of my bone shivs and points it at Anathema who is sitting relaxedly at the table, slowly eating meat while making sure to show as much of her sharp teeth as possible.

Jessica's head swivels to me, her eyes widening in panicked fear.

"Quasi, monsters! They want to eat me!!!" she yells, tears forming on her face, her shiv, shaking in her hand, is still pointed at Anathema.

Yup, just the reaction I was hoping for.

Figuring she might hurt herself, I attempt to activate [Bone Levitation], only to fail completely as my mana refuses to take hold of the bone in her hand.

Weird? I wonder if it's because she's holding it.

Anathema, enjoying the fear her presence entices, picks up a nice slab of meat and bites into it, ripping it apart with ease without even breaking eye contact with Jessica.

"QUASIIIIII!" Jessica yells, her eyes focused upon the sharp teeth chewing through flesh.

Welp, I can't do anything.

Strolling towards the table, I take a seat next to Anathema and grab one of the glasses still filled with that juice, taking a quick glance towards the entrance, finding Tessa looking very confused.

"So, Anathema, what happened?" I ask, taking a sip of the fruit juice, enjoying its nice fruity flavor. Something similar to a combination of mango and blueberry.

Anathema just smiles, showing off her sharp teeth more than usual," Oh, I was having such a nice conversation with your mate there. She was telling me about the outside world. It was quite interesting." she says, her tail swishing.

"And why is she panicking?"

"Well, her aura finally stabilized, which has been suppressing her emotions the entire time."

I nod and turn my head, looking towards Jessica, who is slowly starting to relax, following the conversation along.

Good, she's listening.

"So when she panicked, you sent Tessa," I point at the entrance towards her home where Tessa stands still," to get me."

Anathema nods, flashing her teeth at Jessica, who in turn quickly repoints her bone shiv at her.

"And then you've been antagonizing her."

"I can't help it, her fear is so… intoxicating." Anathema exclaims with an intoxicated glint in her eye.

Yea. Figured as much. Gajeda seem to be hunters while Jessica is clearly acting like prey, enforcing their instincts.

"Jessica!" I yell.

Jessica twitches, her eyes moving to me.

"Can you please put that weapon away and come take a seat next to me, they're not going to hurt us," I say.

Jessica frowns," How would you know?" she asks, fear ever present in her voice, wanting to move closer to me but still fearing the lizard women...

Rolling my eyes, I point at the doorway where Tessa stands unmoving, watching the situation unfold, "because I slept with her daughter."

Tessa immediately turns a lighter shade while her tail wraps around her leg, memories of the night resurfacing within her thoughts.

Jessica's mouth opens and closes as her mind attempts to make sense of what I had said.

"What?" she asks.

*Sigh*

"I banged her. Fucked her. Destroyed her lizard pussy. I made her scream most of the night. I'm not sure how much better of an exclamation you need."

Jessica just blinks, turning towards the entrance, looking at Tessa, who refuses to make any form of eye contact with anyone while her tail threatens to strangle her toned scaly leg.

"You slept with a monster…" she exclaims softly, her mind attempting to make sense of things. A moment passes and she slowly lowers the shiv.

I can only imagine what's going through her thoughts right now.

As she gets up, she looks warily around and walks towards me, grabbing a stone stool and pushing it closer to me. She sits down, her hand grabbing hold of my robe, staring warily at Anathema who is enjoying the entire conversation.

Anathema moves her gaze towards her daughter," Tessa, do please go and get Zorren. I require his presence."

Tessa immediately nods and runs out, still flushing with embarrassment.

"Now then, Quasi, you were gone for several hours. Did you get done with what you needed to do?"

I nod," Yes, I gained two more classes which will hopefully level quickly." I turn to Jessica who is staring at the drink in my hands.

I move my drink towards her, which she takes hesitantly." Jessica, I wanted to ask you, the [Noble] class, how good is it?"

She takes a moment, gazing at the crystalline lines of the cup now in her hands," It's a class you can be born in if both of your parents have the [Noble] class or if either a [King] or [Queen] gives the class to you."

You still haven't answered my question.

"Yes, I figured that out already, but what I want to know is how useful it is, like what skills can you obtain from it?"

She looks up to me," you have the class?".

I nod.

She takes a moment, her thoughts collecting," Well, from what I know, the [Noble] class is very diverse. The class can range from obtaining skills which help you in trade, negotiation, war, combat… that class in general just helps you become better at what you already do. On top of that, the class can evolve into either the [Lord] or [Lady] class, which is significantly more powerful than just being a [Noble].

Interesting, so being born a noble gives you quite a few perks in life to be successful, I can see why those in power stay in power. An uprising couldn't happen due to some people getting great classes at birth, especially if those classes can control people or outright fight armies of weaker classes.

Nodding along, a question pops up into my head as I think about classes." How do classes upgrade? I was checking my lists of class options and was surprised to see rather… boring classes available to me. Do more classes become available later?"

At my question, both women look at me, confused.

"Lists?" Jessica asks, her hand still holding the crystalline glass.

"Well, it was more around several lists, but I--- what?"

At my words, both women just stare at me.

"Most people only have a couple classes to choose from… I was only offered two when I became 16 years old." Jessica explains.

"Years?, That is a term used for several cycles, correct?"

Jessica, confused, looks towards me, her eyes questioning

Oh right, I haven't explained anything to her.

"Right, soooo, this whole place is a dungeon. To enter or exit the dungeon, you need to pass through the fog, which only I am able to do at the moment. Also, this dungeon has several species like," I point at Anathema, "the Gejada, who are trapped inside and are willing to swear fealty to me if I free them from imprisonment."

She blinks, "you can't live in a dungeon. The dungeon is a living, breathing thing. It will do everything in its power to kill what isn't its own creation."

I raise an eyebrow, "well, this dungeon is seemingly not attempting to kill us, so I guess this is an exception."

She frowns at me, unable to refute my logic… though I can't necessarily refute her logic either considering my ignorance in… well, everything.

"Now Quasi, you said that the stone offered you, several classes? Over ten?" Anathema interrupts, her slitted eyes blinking in curiosity.

My hand flies to my neck, flicking my long hair back as I decide to answer.

"Several thousand classes were actually offered."

The sound of a glass cup striking the stone floor reverberated through the room.

Jessica's cup rolls along the floor, it's contents spilled under the table

"It's because of your [Hero] class." She whispers aloud, her eyes gazing into mine with intensity.

Seconds go by until Anathema interrupts with a question.

"Was this [Noble] class the only one you choose or are their others?" She asks.

I turn away from her, my thoughts turning towards my other class. A class I have no idea how to use now that I think about it.

"I also chose [Enchanter]."

Anathema moves her hand, tapping the stone table with her claws as she attempts to remember anyone with the class.

"I have heard about that class, those who are able to give power to items," her gaze moves towards the staff in the corner of her room, "a couple of centaurs have the class and I believe only one Kitsune does as well."

Jessica moves from her seat and grabs the spilled crystal cup which had not even dented and places it on the table.

"Well that's unfortunate, would have loved having some training in the class. Hopefully killing monsters will level it up enough so I can get some usable skills."

"You can't level up your class that way. Enchanter isn't a combat class, it's a crafting one." Jessica interrupts, her hand back to holding my cloak."

"Your mate is correct, such a class would require teaching and practice to increase in level."

"I'm not his mate," Jessica retorts with an angry glare.

Anathema gives her one look, flashes her sharp predatory teeth and turns her attention back to me," Which is why I would suggest you talk to the centaurs and learn what you can from them on the process of enchanting."

That doesn't make sense though. The first ever [Enchanter] had nobody to teach them, so they must have learned how to in some way. I just need to figure… out… the...

Without breaking my train of thought, I quickly search my robe, taking out my enchanted steel dagger.

I quickly attempt to sense Mana, my [Advanced Mana Sense] skill activating automatically.

Bingo.

"What is that?" Anathema asks, her clawed finger pointing at the dagger in my hand, her eyes following the shiny exterior with rapt attention.

I raise an eyebrow," It's an enchanted steel dagger," I explain, holding out for her to see.

She grabs it carefully, her hand moving down the thick handle, delicately touching the wood until it moves to the metal, where her finger moves delicately up and down its shiny length.

Must… suppress… aura…

Finally, her eyes move away from the knife and she asks the question, "what is this material. I have never seen or felt anything like it before."

An epiphany, a state of understanding forms upon my face as I finally figure out what has been bothering me for the longest time.

"This dungeon has no metal," I exclaim.

Now it makes sense. The rock structures in these homes seem to be thousands of years old. Several generations of Gajedan have lived here, probably significantly longer than that. Even still, the only materials they seem to have are those from animals, rocks, crystals, and seemingly plants from the other floors. In conclusion, this dungeon has no metal, unfortunately, I have no idea why.

"Metal… interesting, I have never seen or felt such material before."

She slowly hands the dagger back to me, Jessica moving her body slightly away from the outstretched hand, fearing the blade which she saw so many slaughtered.

Before I can ask another question, a sound from the home entrance takes my attention.

Zorren walks in, his large girth and height forcing him to slump lower to enter through the entrance. His face moves to me, giving me a quick glare before he turns to Anathema.

"What is it you need Ana?" he asks, somewhat forcefully.

Anathema takes a long look at him. She frowns, "where is my daughter?" she asks.

Zorren, taken aback, turns around, only finding an empty doorway.

"She was right behind me a moment ago."

Shaking her head, Anathema turns to me, "Zorren here will help you get acquainted with the citys inhabitants as well as the beasts which roam the floor. He will be your guide to the other floors," she turns to Zorren," and will assist you in anything you desire.

Zorren, bares his sharp teeth, his eyes glinting angrily. But only for a moment. He then relaxes and nods slowly towards her, subduing his anger for the sake of his people and the understanding that he will be able to find his daughter.

"Good," she looks to me, "though I can help answer questions, know that Zorren here has far more knowledge on classes, skills, and the monsters which inhabit the floors. It would be in your best interest to speak with him over such details."

She stands up, her gaze looking towards a window allowing a clear sight towards the stone and her city, "I will, in turn, prepare my people and the resources needed for the trip before the cycle ends."

Her head swivels, staring at me for a long moment, "Before I leave, is there anything that you may require from me?" she asks.

"Tonight… err at cycle's end," I say, getting the hint.

She smiles and nods, walking towards the exit. Her tail swivels erotically as she passes Zorren who is currently glaring daggers at me like never before.

I get up off my seat, Jessica follows along, her body moving behind me, away from Zorren whose eyes are dangerously focused on me.

*Sigh* "Right, not sure why you're angry with me, but I can seriously use your help."

I walk up to him, my gaze unwavering, unflinching, looking straight into the eye of a predator.

_____

Zorren stares at him, this human, watching for a reaction, testing him. But the human meets his gaze, his eyes speaking of someone who has seen pain, felt fear, felt loss, someone that as much as Zorren hates to admit, is very similar to himself… which is why he hates this human so much more… as it is a reminder of his failure.

But Zorren understands the importance of working with him, the importance of making sure his species survives.

Relaxing slightly, Zorren opens his mouth, "I will be leading our people. You will follow my directions or I will leave you behind." he explains.

"I refuse," Quasi answers immediately, gazing into Zorren's eyes with confidence, not even blinking.

Zorren, taken aback, allows his own aura to flow out, immediately causing the human female to tremble.

But the human continues to hold his gaze, his hands moving towards his chest, folding.

Showing his teeth, Zorrens remaining working arm creates a fist, the claws scraping against his scales.

"Fine, but if you make a mistake and kill my people, I will rip out your throat," Zorren threatens, watching a smile glaze upon the humans lips.

"I don't make mistakes," Quasi answers cooly.

Anger is something Zorren understands extremely well, and at this time, it is taking an extraordinary amount of self-control to keep himself back.

Taking a few deep breaths, Zorren lowers his head, suppressing his own pride, activating his skill.

Quasi nods, acknowledging his win and looks to Jessica, watching as her shaking stops and her teared face looks up at him.

"Zorren, I think I need to hunt monsters. I don't suppose you know a good location?"

"I do," Zorren answers, turning around and walking outside.

Quasi sends a command, the undead upstairs answers his call and moves down. The purple light of undeath is ever present on the skeletal face of the abomination. Quasi waits a couple of minutes longer for Jessica to regain some color to her face and then he walks outside, Mule and Jessica following behind.

Zorren just gives them an annoyed look before he starts to head downstairs, towards the city's exit.

______

Bluffing... is not an actual skill, because if it was, I would have gotten it. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure with proper preparation I would have been able to defeat the [Berserker].

But the level of preparation I had was little to none, especially considering the enclosed environment, his size, natural armor in the sense of his scales, and a significant amount of levels over me… oh yeah, if my bluff was caught, I'm pretty sure I would have been killed.

And even so, it needed to happen. He is arrogant, overbearing, authoritative, and easily angered. It was only through keen observation on the reasoning of why he listens to Anathema.

He fears her. She is stronger than him and stronger by quite a bit. Me standing up to him, unwavering at his threats, proved to him that fighting me may not end well for him. I showed him I am not prey, thus I have gained his respect, though little it may be.

Which is why we're walking through the city, passing by very few people as would be expected with how low their population had become, soon even lower considering the amount I plan to take with me to the lower floors.

"Quasi!" a voice yells out, interrupting my thoughts.

Ahria quickly runs up, ignoring Zorren as she rams into my leg, hugging me with a smile." Hiiii," she says, her tail swishing madly as she stares up to me.

I return her smile with my own," Hello Ahria, sorry I had to leave so quickly. Something had come up."

She frowns, turning her head towards Jessica.

Immediately, Jessica gets on one knee, a smile blazing on her face as she quickly reaches out and picks up the lizard child, shoving her straight into her nonexistent chest.

"You are soooo cute," she says, her face rubbing against Ahria's soft undeveloped scales.

Really? A grown Gajedan woman scares you into a corner but you fall in love with a little child…

I shake my head as I watch Ahria giggle happily in Jessica's arms.

I still don't understand women.

"We are wasting time," Zorren interjects with his usual glare.

"Ahria," I say, gaining her attention, "As much as I would enjoy playing with you right now, I, unfortunately, have to get some training done," I explain.

Both Ahria and Jessica frown at me, their faces so identical in disappointment.

I move up my hand, scratching my ear, showing off a smile, "Don't worry. Once I get what I need done, me and Jessica will return and play with you. Alright?"

Ahria nods and wiggles out of Jessica's arms to her disappointment. "Promise?" she asks with a hopeful smile.

"I do," I say, smiling at the blind girl.

She nods and then runs off, waving back at us, Jessica waves goodbye, a sad smile on her face.

"She was so adorable."

"Indeed," I reply, immediately turning around and heading towards Zorren who continues his usual glare.

Seriously, he has like only two expressions; angry and neutral.

Finding that we had finished our little stop, Zorren continues his way towards the city entrance. We follow along, Jessica looking around, her eyes glowing with interest as she follows the stone architecture.

An architecture I now notice to be perfectly trimmed. The walls are abnormally smooth, melding into the ground perfectly. The ground as well is completely smooth and spotless, not a crack or pebble to be seen.

Considering the lack of any proper tools, I can only guess that it was done under a magical nature.

And the only person I have met so far with a class seemingly capable of manipulating the ground is Anathema with her [Geomancer] class.

I wonder how strong the class is. You know what? I might as well ask.

"Hey Jessica, how strong is a [Geomancer] class?"

She looks up, her eyes meeting mine, her smile slowly turning to a frown," It is incredibly strong… and incredibly rare. All mancer type classes are extremely powerful tier two class which tend to only be obtainable from bloodlines.

Bloodlines…

"What are bloodlines," I quickly ask, wanting a better explanation even though I have a pretty good idea what it is.

"It's...mhmm… it's a trait that is passed down a family line." She pauses, frowning, unsure how to explain," bloodlines are special properties people have that are inheritable from parents. Some of them are in the form of skills, others are in the form of stats… but the most powerful are in the form of affinity---"

"--- which is why mancer classes are more commonly seen in [nobles], correct?" I say, finishing her sentence.

She nods, her gaze lingering on mine before turning away.

So bloodlines are another tool for the few to control the many. For the powerful to stay in power… yeah, this world is quite messed up.

"Why did you ask?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you ask me about the [Geomancer] class? Was it offered by the voice?"

"No, that's Anathema's class."

Jessica quickly stumbles, a rather impressive feat considering how smooth the ground is.

"She's a [Geomancer]?" Jessica asks, her eyes widening in shock.

"She could have killed me!"

Really? Pretty sure she could have killed you quite easily without her class.

"Not sure why you're afraid, my [Necromancer] class is tier two as well."

She pauses, biting her lip," you can fight her?" She asks hopefully.

Hell no.

"Of course."

She takes a long look at me and then nods, a smile slowly forming on her lips.

"Walk faster!" Zorren yells, interrupting us from a considerable distance away.

Holy shit he walks fast.

_______

Having caught up to the annoyed Zorren, the group quickly makes there way to the entrance of the city where a relatively large group of Gejan await. These men and women of the species sit or stand around the inner entrance of the city. They are sharpening their bone weapons which seem to be of a much higher quality than those compared to the guards.

One of the Gejan, a female with a red hue on his scales leaves the group and intercepts Zorren.

"Zorren, the hunters don't need your help," she quickly calls out, her slitted eyes only taking a quick glance at Zorren's lacking tail and unusable arm.

Zorren just stops, his face getting angry before quickly calming down as his skill activates.

Even so, the skill is only partially successful as Zorren bares his sharp teeth," I have orders from Anathema. So if you have a problem with me joining the hunt, then take it up with her, Thorous." he says the last word challengingly.

A panicked look crosses Thorous face at the mere mention of Anathema, their current ruler and the one person who could take on any Gajan with absolute ease… even Zorren.

Swishing her tail in part anger and fear, Thorous turns away," Fine then, just don't get in my way," she says, walking towards the hunting group, barely giving the humans but a momentary glance.

As she walks away, Zorren moves towards a stone seat, content to wait for the group to prepare the hunt, a rather important task considering the dangers that may be faced.

Walking up to the group of hunters, Quasi gets only a slight glance before the group turns their eyes away. The reason for such a treatment is based upon the Gejan culture where eye contact is only done by those who believe themselves equals or allies… which is why many of them refuse to make eye contact with a being who had gained the respect of Anathema, a rather difficult thing to do considering her overpowering presence.

Activating his skill, [Advanced analyze], Quasi is beseeched with a great deal of relatively low-level Gejan with their levels averaging between forty and fifty, while Thorous, a seemingly level 93 [Blader], is a rather large outlier compared to the group she seems to lead.

His gaze focuses on the weaponry, finding that though they are all made of bone, some seem to be superior to others. His levels in [Necromancer] allow him to immediately notice the slight differences like bone density, sharpness, and even the purpose of the bone usage when it was still within the monster.

For example, a large, slightly curved tooth attached to a makeshift hammer. The tooth was clearly used for latching onto prey but is instead being used as the back of a hammer to allow penetration of flesh if muscles are much too sturdy to allow breakage.

Having looked at the group, Quasi walks back towards Jessica who is fearfully standing next to Mule, her eyes looking at the Gejan arming and preparing themselves.

____

Thorous takes quick peeks at the [Necromancer], her face taking on a red shade every time her groin begins to itch. Her friend Tessa had been extremely vocal yesterday night, having made it difficult for Thorous to sleep considering the moans and screams so loudly articulated, especially considering her own home is just underneath Tessa's.

Annoying

Shaking her tail in frustration, she finally gets up, looking towards her [Hunters], [Trackers], [scouts], and [Warriors], noticing that their preparations are complete.

Looking up, she notices the light has slightly started to recede, a perfect time to hunt prey as it means that the Desbats, giant, overgrown flying monsters, are more than likely going to sleep, drastically decreasing the chance that if something were to go wrong, that they would be less likely to be swarmed.

As she gets up, the others of her hunting group notice and react attentively. They grab their gear and weapons, shuffling towards her. The humans and Zorren also react and head towards her.

They quickly surround her, gaining her attention.

"We will be going towards hunting ground sentra. It has been a while since we had gone there and supplies are running low on crystals. The crystalbacks should have regained their population once more, so we will be hunting a few of them down today."

A condensed groan comes from the group, understanding that a lot of work will need to be done.

Thorous flicks her tail, acknowledging that hunting crystalbacks is indeed very physically demanding.

With a nod and a flicker of her tongue, she turns and exits the city, passing by two guards who only give them a quick glance before going back to their duties.

Powerful would be an understatement to compare a [Gejan Guard] to her own class, even if her levels are higher than theirs. The problem is that they get skills which increase the strength of their scales by an enormous amount… unfortunately, such a class is reserved for males and usually larger ones as well. Though her training and level would still allow her to take them on… and win.

As the group moves a far distance away, her night vision activates, allowing her to see the terrain clearly, though it lacks long distance color.

With a flick of her hand, the [scouts] quickly disperse, moving silently up front to warn the group of possible monster sightings or swarms.

Swarms, that's the most dangerous part. Swarms of monsters alone aren't necessarily problematic to deal with. The problem is actually the amount of sound such a large amount of beasts create. Such sound would attract a Desbat, whom, once finding prey, will immediately signal another swarm.

And that, more often than not, will cause a few of the hunting groups to lose their life - something that, considering the slow reproduction of the Gejan, is very dangerous to the species as a whole.

As the group gets closer to the crystalback feeding ground, which is a small watering hole with fungi all around. A [Scout] quickly runs up to Thorous, her face taking on a reflection of panic.

"Crystalback corpse found nearby…" she pauses," The back had been completely shattered.

And that's when Thorous frowns. "Show me."

The scout nods and starts moving towards the corpse, the entire group immediately on edge, weapons unsheathing.

When they reach the corpse, a ghastly image can be seen of the crystalback, a turtle type monster with a thick crystal shell. But the shell of the corpse is completely shattered, an impossible feat by any other monster except the dungeon boss, a dungeon spawned abomination which blocks the route towards the second level.

Thorous' frowns more, her mind trying to imagine the dungeon boss traveling such a long distance just to feed on a crystalback, especially considering the abundance of Desbat prey…

As she glares at the dead monster and the consumed greenish flesh, a movement startles her as the flesh parts.

A small black hairy monster pops out of the corpse, its red beady eyes staring directly at her.

"Oh hey, it's Peter."