Chapter 114
Bolstering the Dungeon’s Defenses
Editors: Sebas Tian, Speedphoenix
"Master, Lefi! Come on guys, rise "n s.h.i.+ne, it"s already mornin"!"
The first thing I heard as my consciousness slowly returned from the void was Lyuu"s voice . It was paired with a sense of motion . It felt like someone had grabbed me by the shoulders and tried to shake me awake .
"Nrghhh…" The first thing I saw once I opened my eyes was the dog-eared maid"s face . She had a huge, s.h.i.+t-eating grin plastered all over it .
"Oh… hey Lyuu . Morning . "
"Good mornin", Master," she chirped . "I gotta say, seein" this first thing in the mornin" is a real sweet sight for sore eyes "cause it"s adorable "n all, but everyone"s gonna be up soon, so I think you two should prolly save the flirtin" for later . "
"Huh…?" I was still barely awake, so I didn"t manage to fully process her words . I did however realize that there was a bit of a weight on my chest, so I directed my eyes downwards only to be greeted by a facefull of pretty silver hair and a pair of elegant looking horns .
Following the silvery strands led me towards her neck . There, I saw both an exposed, well shaped collarbone and the smooth, unblemished skin that covered her nape . I felt the urge to stare, but managed to force my gaze just a bit further, where I witnessed a modest chest gently rise and fall as its owner breathed in and out .
The sight was captivating . I couldn"t help but stare as I finally realized that, for some odd reason, I had embraced Lefi in my sleep . Wait . Huh? The f.u.c.k? How? When? What?
I wasn"t the only one that Lyuu had awoken . The dragon girl in my arms began to stir because she too had been subject to a thorough shaking . She batted her long, pretty eyelashes a few times before finally opening her eyes and revealing the glimmer jewel-like pupils that lay within .
She slowly, groggily raised her gaze in time with me lowering mine .
And as our eyes met, we stopped .
There was a moment of silence .
We stared at each other, both too surprised to act or speak .
"G-Good morning . " After a while, I managed to voice an awkward greeting .
"I-Indeed . I bid you good morning . "
She reciprocated in an equally awkward manner . But neither of us knew exactly what we were supposed to say .
There was another awkward pause .
This time, Lefi was the one to break it .
"Ummm… I wish to be released . "
“S-sure, my bad . ”
She rolled off of me as soon I lifted the arm that I had most likely wrapped around her in my sleep and slowly began to get up . Likewise, I shook off my sleepiness and raised my body now that I was no longer being weighed down . Alright . What the actual f.u.c.k happened last night?
I surveyed our surroundings and realized that there were a large number of empty bottles rolling around us . Empty wine bottles, of course . Ughhhh . I drank waaaaay too much last night . I can"t even remember what happened . When the h.e.l.l did I even pa.s.s out? I guess I must"ve just grabbed Lefi because I was cold or something . Probably happened while I was asleep .
Lyuu had always been a morning person . And as such, she seemed to be the only other one of the dungeon"s residents that had already awoken . Leila was out of sight, which meant she was most likely still in her room . Illuna was sleeping nearby with an angelic look on her face . And s.h.i.+ was still in her slime form . I had no way of knowing whether or not she was still asleep, but the fact that she wasn"t moving meant that she probably was .
"You two might wanna wash up . " The maid glanced at Lefi and I as she started cleaning up the mess we left . ""Cause you both reek of booze right now . "
"Good point . And thanks," I replied . I got up and started moving towards the small bath we had set up in the throne room . The one we had set up in the j.a.panese-style inn was much larger, but it was too far away .
"Oh right . You want to go first, Lefi?"
"I see no reason for us to take turns," she said, confused . "Why should we not simply enter together?"
Though she still seemed half asleep, the look on her face was undoubtedly one of bafflement . Yeah, sounds about right .
Lefi had never really cared about being seen in the nude . She didn"t find it even the slightest bit embarra.s.sing—which made sense . Dragons didn"t wear clothes . The only reason she was wearing them now was because she thought that it was kind of chilly without them . I was sure that she would strip right down to her birthday suit and stay in it if I ever decided to turn up the thermostat and transform the dungeon into a land of everlasting summer .
I knew that I wasn"t about to change her opinion regardless of what I said, so I ultimately ended up just accepting things as they were . I was just going to have to suck it up and fight the urge to stare . Lefi had a track record of flas.h.i.+ng me triumphant, c.o.c.ky grins and rubbing it in my face every time she caught onto the fact that she was turning me on, so I had to make sure I didn"t let it show .
"Sure, that works . Let"s go," I said in as unfl.u.s.tered a tone as I could manage .
"I shall have you wash my hair . "
"As you wish, my lady," I said with a sigh .
And so the two of us went off to bathe . Lyuu, who had bore witness to the whole interaction, continued to watch with a s.h.i.+t-eating grin as we left .
***
Everything after our nice refres.h.i.+ng morning bath went as per routine . We got out, had breakfast with everyone else, and then the dungeon"s residents each went off to do their own thing . Illuna and s.h.i.+ went outside to play around in the gra.s.s while Leila and Lyuu started doing their usual ch.o.r.es . Talking to Lefi seemed to have paid off, as the dragon girl crawled over to her futon and started rolling around without a care in the world . She was probably going to head right back to sleep . Whew . Glad to see she"s back to doing whatever she wants . Normal Lefi is best Lefi .
As one of the dungeon"s residents, I too was off doing my own thing . Specifically, I was standing in front of the cave that used to mark the dungeon"s entrance and thinking up ways I could beef up the dungeon"s defenses .
Visiting the capital had led me to realize that humanity"s champions, those that stood at its apex, were in fact pretty strong . I managed to beat the guy I fought, but I probably would have been butchered rather easily had I been up against a group of two or more . Humans weren"t exactly what I would call the biggest threat either . I had no doubt that there were beastkin, demons, and demihumans out there that had stats that easily trumped humanity"s greatest . I figured that the races most likely had warriors capable of defeating me in combat and that I would ultimately have to face them should I ever make enemies out of anything beyond just a group of humans or two .
And even a single defeat meant death .
I couldn"t allow myself to ever lose if I wanted to live .
I had initially thought that making myself stronger was the best choice I could make . But because I didn"t know any way of growing stronger besides hunting monsters, I ended up setting the option aside for the time being . Because I knew that bolstering the dungeon"s defenses was much more likely to produce immediate results .
As they were now, my traps weren"t powerful enough to defeat anyone as powerful as the man I had fought in the capital . The most they could do would be to slow stronger invaders down . Flat out killing anyone or anything that powerful simply wasn"t going to happen .
But that was fine .
The dungeon"s defenses didn"t need to prove fatal . They just needed to function as a means of hara.s.sment . I wanted them to drain my foes of their potions and then get them down to half health or less . In the ideal case, I wanted the intruders to arrive before me battered and covered in wounds .
And the best way to do that would be to get more monsters . I didn"t have enough under my control . There was s.h.i.+, Rir, and then the three wraith girls . That was it . Of the five creatures I had under my control, only one was capable of truly engaging powerful foes in combat . Of course, I knew that creatures like Rir were few and far between . I probably wasn"t going to be able to get my hands on anything on his level, especially since I wanted to summon a group of four .
The reason I specifically wanted four was because quality trumped quant.i.ty . Weak monsters weren"t worth all that much in a fight . I could easily jump into a crowd of a few hundred and tear through them in a manner reminiscent of a dynasty warrior . There was no reason why anyone with stats somewhat similar to mine wouldn"t be able to do the same .
One would have to ama.s.s a mob the size of that one army of ants I"d fought back in the day to truly have quant.i.ty even begin to s.h.i.+ne . Oh man, that was awful . There were so many of them that I felt like I couldn"t see anything but ants for miles . Unlike a certain socialist state, I wasn"t able to use political witchcraft to turn farmers into soldiers overnight . I couldn"t just throw bodies at my foes until they ran out of ammo . That type of strategy took way more DP than I had .
Most importantly, the creatures I summoned needed to be powerful enough to thrive in the Wicked Forest—a domain that couldn"t exactly be labeled hospitable . Any creature that lived within it needed to possess a certain degree of strength to continue to survive .
Given the circ.u.mstances, I could definitely state that quality trumped quant.i.ty . Oh yeah, I almost forgot . Rir"s got a bunch of underlings, doesn"t he? Eh, I"ll just leave him to his own devices . I"m sure he"ll use "em well even if I don"t bother b.u.t.ting in .
As I contemplated the monsters I could summon, I suddenly had an epiphany: the dungeon didn"t need to be fair . Heh . I should make it the kind of bulls.h.i.+t that makes you QQ about game balance by throwing a miniboss at any intruders right off the bat . Heh . That"d be so awful it"d be great . And whaddya get when you beat the miniboss? More minibosses . Heheheh . Wait . What the h.e.l.l am I thinking? Why would you have to fight the minibosses one on one? Screw that, I"mma just make it so they all get deployed at the same time . f.u.c.k yes . That"d be h.e.l.la fun . It"d totally make people throw down their controllers and scream in rage .
And I know how I can make it even worse . I"ll throw in lots of traps and stage hazards . The intruders will have to stop watching their feet because they get all distracted by the minibosses . And the moment they do? Boom! They get trapped and die! Heh . Heheheheheh . Oh man, this is going to be so unfair it"ll be nothing but fun . Not for the intruders, of course .
With that in mind, I had my end goal . I was going to create a dungeon that my enemies would dare not approach, a dungeon where champions ventured only to be never seen again . Over the top complete bulls.h.i.+t difficulty level, here we come! Gotta keep my home safe, after all .
The only concern I had was that I would have to ensure that my traps only activated on my foes . I didn"t want any of the dungeon"s residents getting hurt, and Nell had to be able to stop by whenever she felt like hanging out .
I opened the menu and started scrolling through it as I continued to think about my plans .