Since it was early in the morning, I decided to invite Helora to D1 for breakfast. Helora and I were currently sitting at the Conference Table while Orai kept the adventurers busy. Krotos was currently talking with Vrudius in the Core Room while Briggs was performing maintenance on Bose next to us."Quite the team you"ve a.s.sembled here, Dungeon Master Jordan. Including myself, you already have 4 members in your Dungeon. Predator told me you guys have been here for five days so how did you pull off such a feat? You shouldn"t even be higher than a C+ right now and yet, you can already be cla.s.sified as a B+ Dungeon. I mean, it"s mostly because of the powerful companions you have recruited so far but having B rank mobs this early is extraordinary", Helora said calmly.
"Has it been five days? Feels like it"s been four. To tell you the truth, I don"t know how we pulled it off. It seems that I"m a rather lucky person at the moment. I don"t really expect things to keep going this smoothly forever though. That"s why I"m always preparing for the worse scenario when I"m building the Dungeon. However, Briggs has been a huge help to the Dungeon ever since we acquired him on the second day. I"m not sure I would"ve survived this long without his expertise in Dungeon building. We had to face B+ Minotaurs a few days ago, despite only recently arriving here. Luckily, we had this golem named Bose here to help us out!", I said happily.
"Bose!", Bose said proudly.
"Stop moving, Bose! You"re gonna make me accidentally disable your arms! Stay still, lad!", Briggs said annoyed.
"Not only do you have a decent Dungeon so far but your blood tastes like the blood of a Summoner! Those are one of the few individuals who have the blood that I need. Not to mention you are cute for a Dungeon Master! Not a ton of slim muscular Dungeon Masters in Orune. Most of them have too much muscle from being a warrior or too little from being a scholastic mage. You have just the right amount since you are a summoner! I think I"m starting to grow fond of you...do you happen to have a girlfriend by any chanc-"
Before Helora got to finish, Orai quickly placed Helora in a chokehold from behind the chair. Her face was filled with the intent to kill.
"Oi! What the h.e.l.l do you think you"re talking about? Jordan"s only obligation is to the Dungeon and the Dungeon alone! I won"t let some h.o.r.n.y Succubus who gets off on drinking Jordan"s blood mess up the Dungeon!", Orai said angrily.
"Huh? You"re telling me that he can"t have a life? There"s more to being a Dungeon Master than running the Dungeon! It"s not uncommon for Dungeon Masters to have a love life you know. Hehehe. It sounds more like you just want to keep Dungeon Master Jordan to yourself than anything else", Helora said giggling.
"What"s that supposed to mean! Do you want to be fed to Cerberus that bad?", Orai said.
Helora quickly turned into a bat to get out of Orai"s chokehold. After flying behind Orai and transforming back into her maid outfit, Helora whispered something into her ear that I couldn"t hear.
"Do you know that Succubus can sense the feelings of love being emanated from a person? Guess how you really feel about your Dungeon Master...", Helora whispered.
After a few more moments, Orai face suddenly began to turn bright red from what looked to be the feeling of embarra.s.sment. She quickly moved away from Helora and sat next to me at the Conference Table. She was trying her best not to make eye contact with me, as she was trying to calm herself down.
"Anyway, I"m happy to join your Dungeon! You seem to be pretty good at being a Dungeon Master so far. Like I said earlier, I specialize in Offense but I"m also one of the most intelligent Demons in Orune. I used to serve directly under the defeated Demon King before Predator killed him in the last war. Luckily, he was kind enough to spare most of the high-ranking demons after his mission was completed. Not only was he a powerful hero back then but he was also a good person at heart. When he was a hero, he was called "The Chosen Hunter". After some months pa.s.sed by, he retired from being a hero and went by the name Predator. Of course, that was before he...", Helora said trailing off.
"I"m guessing Predator doesn"t want you spilling his secrets, huh? I figured as much", I said.
"It"s not that I don"t trust you or anything! It"s just that...it"s only a theory that I haven"t had the chance to confirm. However, I can say that Predator was being honest when he said that he came in peace. He was supposed to give you one of the B rank Demi-humans that was with us but he changed his mind once he saw you in person. It seems that he has taken a liking to you for some reason. Given Predator"s influence and power in Orune, that could be a good thing or a bad thing", Helora said cautiously.
"Why were you in the cage with handcuffs though? Were you a prisoner of his?", I asked.
"Not exactly. Hehehe. You see...I"ve been craving magic rich blood for a while now so it gradually turned into bloodl.u.s.t. I"m not happy to admit it but that"s why I have this collar around my neck with a red, magic pearl inside of it. It helps to control the bloodl.u.s.t and keep me sane. I"ve been somewhat weakened for a while now so I couldn"t break the collar without drinking the right type of blood. However, I guess I can take it off since I have your blood now", Helora said happily.
Helora calmly placed her hands on the strong and st.u.r.dy metal collar and easily broke it into pieces! As soon as it hit the ground, we could hear a large thud from what seemed to be an extremely heavy collar. As Helora stretched her body, we could sense a drastic and exponential increase in her magical apt.i.tude and strength. It seems that the Collar also served as a sort of limiter for her powers.
"You should repurpose the metal and pearl for something in the Dungeon. These are some of the best materials that Predator could buy. It would be a shame to waste it", Helora said yawning.
As Helora placed the materials on the table, she flew over to our mattress and jumped onto it. Before she took her nap, she gave us some important information.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. We came in the morning because Predator said you are going to be tested by Hidarus later tonight. On the fifth day, Hidarus usually sends the nearby predators to the dungeon to test your preparations. I think Hidarus was initially going to send easier mobs but since you"re established already, he"ll probably send more experienced beasts. On the bright side, this is a good time to impress him. You might even get early access to Dungeon Battles or whatever it"s called. Hidarus will probably send you a warning in a few hours so you can give him a good show to watch later. If you have any DP left, spend it wisely...", Helora said yawning.
As Helora quickly fell asleep, I looked at Orai and Briggs. They seemed to be as surprised and shocked as I was. However, I saw this as an opportunity to show Hidarus what we were made of.
"Gather everyone important to the Dungeon and meet me in the Core Room. We have a Dungeon to defend, Ladies and Gentlemen", I said confidently.
Orai and Briggs quickly got their things together to meet us in the Core Room. Orai was going to persuade the adventurers to leave the dungeon while Briggs was going to get Krotos and Obsidian. As I was getting ready to teleport to the Core Room, I pulled out the book that was written by Hidarus. I noticed that a new chapter was added and currently exhibiting a faint glow. As I turned to the page in question, I immediately noticed the t.i.tle on the top of the page:
"How To Survive A Hidarus Challenge? Expect The Unexpected."