NOVEL WEB Chapter Eighty-Four Lessons on Dungeon Exploration
Meifa watched the princess knight run out her rear door, heading deeper into the dungeon, and sighed. A shame really, the girl was perfect. Strong, utterly adorable and that armor just suited her so perfectly. She usually didn’t think much of clothing, as a dragon she didn’t need it, but as a demon she understood its uses. To her that armor was perfect, the only kind of clothing worth using. Combining form in a sexy fashion with practical protection. As a result, she really liked the girl’s taste, but she couldn’t help wanting to see her out of the armor.
Her tail throbbed at the thought and idly she rubbed her belly. Next time, she promised herself. Next time she was going to get that cutie to spread her legs. Meifa smiled to herself at the thought. Any dragon wanted a strong mate and that girl was perfect. Worthy to be a mother to her children. With that thought in mind, she slipped into her private area. Settled herself down and spread her own legs. Time to get the workout she was denied. Maybe next time they met she would actually get a workout and maybe just maybe a kid.
Phillip turned the corner. Meifa was right, the mountain path was not a good one for her. Not right now, given that she was still getting used to her shrunken form. As a result she had gone into the caverns, there were still occasionally points where she had to deal with harpies, but they were notably few and far between. That meant spiders and their traps. The traps were the most annoying. She made note of the webs, their presence was going to be very good for the town. Assuming adventurers could get past Meifa.
While Phillip had avoided fighting her, which went to demonstrate that this dungeon allowed more than just combat to get past bosses, she did take a moment to look at the demon in question. Meifa was a strong boss, intimidating too. Even if she was low leveled. Most adventurers around level 30 would have trouble with her and that is the range she would recommend for the third floor. A party this deep would need to be around level 30 at the very minimum, which also gave her an idea of the dungeon’s level curve.
On the note about spider webs, however, that meant demonic silk. Demon Silk was a very valuable trade good, used in high quality clothing and enchanted goods. A regular source of it was worth more than a hundred times its weight in gold. The trade benefits for the town would be enormous, but it also meant that new interest groups would be interested in control of the town. Phillip realized she would have to be careful about that. Thankfully the silk wasn’t that easy to obtain. Between the monsters, traps and the silk itself any gathering mission would be difficult. The silk was supposedly able to trap dragons and she did know that anyone who got caught in it was not escaping easily. Fire was a good way to deal with it, but you would lose any silk you planned to harvest that way.
Looking around, she noted that this was yet another dim passage. Several webs strewn where the lighting was particularly poor. If you weren’t looking for them, those webs could have spelled the end of many a run. Phillip took a second look, noting several hidden nooks. Possible ambushers lying in wait. Perfect places for it. With that in mind, she prepared to channel fire into her blade. It would help her dismantle the webs in her path.
As it would turn out, getting through the area proved easy. Not one demon showed up and she was able to proceed. A couple turns later and she came upon the boss room. Unlike the last floor she didn’t have any puzzles to solve in order to proceed. Instead it was a simple matter to enter the room.
Phillip looked around after entering. Immediately upon entering, she noted that it was a series of platforms, with narrow walkways laid around. Areas of the room were shadowed and webs were everywhere. Above were several platforms as well. It wasn’t long before she spotted her opponents. A spider demon and a harpy. Both of them were level 35, which meant they would be a tough fight for most adventurers. Especially considering that the usual encounter on this floor was with level 20 monsters. Still a boss fight was supposed to be a challenge. A double boss was an interesting one.
Stepping onto a platform, she readied her magic. She wasn’t too worried about the spider, it was the harpy that would be the real challenge. An assessment that she didn’t really get to test. Her first spell was a lightning infused shockwave, which rippled out in an unstable mess. Frying everything in its path.
It was a terrible execution, but it got the job done. One crispy chicken fell from the sky and was caught by one of the spider’s webs. She let out a groan, still alive even if she wasn’t looking that great. In the same moment, the spider tried to jump her from behind. Phillip noticed it and tried to swing her blade at it. Only to mess up her footwork. Regardless her sword did connect, just not quite as gently as she planned. The demon sailed into a wall, with a crunch. Slumping to the ground with a groan. A quick check showed both were quite heavily wounded, but alive. Oops, that wasn’t quite what she wanted to do. Not by a long shot.
The plan had been to play with them not beat them up. With a sigh, she moved to the nearest and gave her a field treatment. At least she could do something to keep them stable. The whole goal was to not kill and she had nearly failed that task. Maybe magic wasn’t that good of an idea? At least not until she fixed her mana path problem. That messy shockwave spell was a prime example of how that was messing her up.
With the bosses fixed up, she proceeded to the fourth floor. Like with the last floor she soon found herself in a rest area. A wide central room and several side rooms with curtains instead of doors. There wasn’t much privacy offered here, but the amenities were certainly better than what was provided by earlier floors. The lighting and general atmosphere, combined with the murals, were rather lustful. Everywhere she looked were lewd murals, all of them featuring either girl-on-girl action or focusing on just a single girl. There was quite a bit of variety, but every girl was cute and sexy. Phillip turned red as she noticed just how detailed these murals were.
Turning for the exit she rushed out of the room. Slipping out the rest area, she paused to center herself again. Trying to ignore how all those images made her feel. Even if she knew part of it was the dungeon’s pheromones, they were growing thicker and more potent. After a moment she looked around, noticing how much warmer this floor was. Looking around, she noticed the entire area was lush with plant life. Between the warm humid air and the vibrant plants growing all around her, she had no trouble identifying the floor as a jungle floor.
Phillip noted that down, all the trees and bushes would provide ample room for demons to hide. Worse, some of the plants might also prove to be threats. This floor would certainly be a test for an adventurer’s awareness, but so had the last. It was a different variation on a theme. Looking around, she didn’t see much indication for a trail. Any hint of which way to go. It seemed finding the way was going to be part of the challenge as well. With that in mind, she picked a path. Any path was as good as any other and she figured she would have to hunt for clues.
Phillip hiked away from the tower. It was the third one she had found. Each one was home to a number of harpies and she found a switch in each tower. Activating these switches seemed to do nothing. What they were for, she wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed likely they were part of this floor’s puzzle.
Rounding a tree she noticed signs of demons in the area. She took a breath and then drew her sword preparing for battle.