Apexus ate the two Bloody Serpents and split the boss with Reysha. Aclysia tried to preserve some of the meat. It was surprisingly easy. The high liquid content would have made it a terror to dry out under normal circumstances. With her magic, it shrivelled up nicely, leaving a bloody red jerky that was just the right kind of stringy. It retained enough magic to serve as rations for Reysha for at least a few days, until the rest drained from it naturally.
With the meals taken and their injuries taken care of, they were left in the chamber. Both the constant drumming and the pulses of light were gone. The dungeon lay still, the light a constant, dim red. Still not optimal as far as the party was concerned, but better.
“Maybe I can still use it as a pick or something?” Reysha mumbled, turning the destroyed axe in her hand. No amount of glue would put it back together. It was a mystery what kind of magical craftsman would even be capable of melding crystal like this. Such a person would not be found on this Leaf.
“I’m so, so sorry,” Korith apologized for the fourth time.
“Don’t be… weapons are tools, tools break… it is how it fucking is,” Reysha looked at the weapon one more time, then tossed it over her shoulder. Korith lunged for the shard and the metal, catching both. “The fuck?”
“W-well… someone could buy them? It’s still sharp stuff!”
“…Fuck it, if you want to try to bring our trash to the vendor, go right ahead, squishy.” Reysha stretched. “I’m more interested in new stuff – where da loot at?”
“A splendid question – I suspect down here.” Aclysia hovered above where the heart/cocoon had been. The beating muscle had long since entirely dried out. Sometime after the boss’ death, the weight of the crystal had made it fall through the bottom. None of the voracious party members had investigated it yet, neither did the guilty blonde.
The way the crystal had fallen created a conveniently easy to climb drop. Underneath the boss arena was a granite chamber. Korith laid down the second she realized. “Stone,” she cooed, “honest, firm stone… I missed you sooooo muuuuuuuch.”
“The constant squishiness of the environment was a point of annoyance,” Aclysia agreed, herself caressing a wall like it was an old friend. They had only been able to sleep in the mansion twice. The rest of the time was spent moving or resting inside the tunnels.
As they moved down the tunnel, Reysha let out a long sigh. “I did really like that axe though… How come your weapon doesn’t break instead, huh?”
“W-well, there’s a reason Warriors usually use clubs and hammers.” Korith clutched her trusty beat stick with both hands. “Big chunks of metal don’t break that easily…”
“Psh, that makes sense, get out of here with that,” Reysha rolled her neck. “While I’m asking stupid ass questions, ya gonna regrow your wings, big guy?” Apexus grunted. “Very informative.”
“I am uncertain,” the humanoid chimera said and rolled his shoulders. It was easier without the extra weight attached. “They’re a weak point in combat and unfavourable in these tight spaces. The extra jumping power isn’t worth it. I am wondering if I could find a way to quickly grow and absorb them as needed.”
“Can’t ya press one of your orgasm spots and make that easier?” Reysha asked.
“It’s not that simple for complex biological structures. They take time and energy.”
“Hm… hmmm, okay – also can ya keep your new Growths away from me?” She rubbed her thumb, while looking at his wrists.
The previously red dots had changed to a colour that made them near indistinguishable from the surrounding skin. Without a closer inspection or tactile feedback, the smashers looked like they were part of the thumb muscle. Functionality wise, they were much the same. Scarily, there was little about these instruments that could be improved from a biological perspective. They were a little wider now and, once Apexus got used to them, could be reinforced with Ironskin. Both increased the punching power by a notable margin. Speed wise, nothing would change. More active Martial Arts, like Rippling Palm, were sadly too slow to be used through the smasher. To use them simultaneously would work better.
What was most important was that Apexus had a weapon that was effective against armour without utilizing his Ki. A back-up weapon at worst and an additional impact to every successful strike at best. Considerations had been made to place them somewhere else. Apexus had deemed that his palm was most frequently in range of enemies. Especially now that his towering size got him the range advantage against practically everyone.
They stepped into a new chamber. With a loud ‘CLONK!’ the corridor sealed behind them. Standard dungeon design, partly to make them feel at ease and partly to prevent them from waiting out the spawn of the next boss through an easy access route.
As another aspect of standard design, they were greeted with a healing fountain and six chests in niches along the circular wall. Clear drinking water bubbled from a separate basin and a half-removed side room offered space for a campfire and sleeping quarters. The usual luxuries afforded to the victors. It wasn’t much, but it was a lot for adventurers who had just made their way through a dungeon.
Reysha lost no time stripping. Korith lost no time hurrying towards the first chest. After exchanging a glance, Apexus joined the former and Aclysia the latter.
Korith pushed open the lid of the metal box. She dangled over the rim of the container, her upper body vanishing in the darkness of the divine container. There was no risk involved – if the treasure chests had a capacity to let greedy adventurers plunge to their deaths, that would have been a widely known issue.
The kobold eventually tilted back, a velvet bag of coins in hand. “10 gold!” she squeaked after looking inside. “Hoard will be so happy!”
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“I’ll be taking that.” Aclysia acted fast on those words, fishing the purse out of the shortstack’s clutches. She whined and made big eyes, but the metal fairy was unrelenting. “It is paramount we start building a comfortable cushion,” she stated. “Or do you wish to eat only stag meat next time as well?”
“F-for Hoard, I would…” Korith stammered in half-hearted defiance. ‘I wanna be a good follower but… urgh, too much stag…’ “…well… Hoard does teach us to take care of his envoys…”
“Squishy, each time ya talk about your god, it sounds more like a scammer.”
“Hoard is not a scammer, it is the greatest pile of treasures!”
“Ya sure ya ain’t talking about your boobs?” Reysha cackled, then let out a long sigh. She lowered herself into the water and watched the viscera, sweat and grime get carried away by the constant stream of hot liquid. “That’s the stu- Hello there handsome.” She purred as Apexus sat down next to her.
Doubly frustrated, Korith stomped over to the second chest. More treasure would lift her mood. She retrieved a wristband. It seemed fairly dull at first, some kind of nicely worked, flexible material. After putting it on and executing some random gestures, she found that it allowed her to pull small objects towards her. With Reysha’s underwear in hand, she danced excitedly, until she realized what she was doing.
“Why’re ya happy? That’s obviously best for me,” Reysha asked. “Pulling knives back will be nice.”
“I’m just happy we found valuable stuff!” Korith chirped and dropped the wristband atop the tiger girl’s clothes. Excited, she rushed to the third chest. It contained a golden seed, shaped like that of an apple, but itself as large as one. Reysha whistled and Aclysia’s eyes went wide. Korith was just stunned.
“What is it?” Apexus asked. There was a vague sense of familiarity about it. He had heard about it before, but didn’t quite recall.
“It’s the seed of a Divine Fruit, darling,” Aclysia reported.
Apexus remembered then. It was a lesson from long ago, years by now, that he had received from Gizmo. Divine Fruits grew at the end of Branches if the Leaves on it were ‘stimulated’ by the heroic acts of adventurers on them. This came in the form of Divine Quests, clearing dungeons, finding unknown mysteries, and so on. It took several years, at a minimum, between Divine Fruits to grow on the same branch and they could only be claimed by those that had partook, in large part, in its creation. A cruel fact of the Omniverse, for those Fruits boosted the person that ate it with rejuvenating energies of the tree itself. It was a necessary step towards godhood, yet the conflicts that broke out around who was to eat one were often what showed who was too cruel to deserve divinity.
“Something this small will still reverse a couple of years of aging,” Reysha hummed.
“Can you split it?” Apexus asked, looking between the redhead and the kobold.
“You don’t want it?” Korith asked.
“I must admit a deep curiosity about what would happen were you to consume it,” Aclysia stated and looked towards the two regular mortals in the party. “Provided you agree to-“
“Yes, we do,” Reysha interrupted. “Come on Korith, give the big guy a chomp of tree power.”
The kobold waddled over and handed the seed to Apexus. Hesitantly, the humanoid chimera took it. He shot both the redhead and the blonde one last questioning glance. They were both in their mid-twenties. Neither needed the rejuvenation, but Apexus was certain he didn’t age at all. He had no cells that could degrade over time. All his traditionally biological bits were grown from slime and sustained by the same.
Since they were so eager to see what would happen, he obliged them. He put the side in his mouth and swallowed it whole, letting the stomach acid do the work.
Apexus furrowed his eyebrows.
The trio of gorgeous women bowed towards him, inspecting his confused expression. The humanoid chimera remained quiet. He tilted his head. The confusion deepened. “Weeeeell?!” Reysha exclaimed, when she couldn’t take it anymore. “We’re waiting!”
Apexus opened his mouth. He unhinged his jaw and pushed a hand down his throat. Perhaps he was so human in appearance, the display was disturbing even to Reysha. Not disturbing enough to make her flinch, just to make her feel that little uncomfortable knot in her stomach. It passed once his hand emerged and his bones slotted back into their proper position.
In his hand was the completely untouched seed. Yellow acid coated its surface, but did nothing at all to it. “Can’t eat it,” the humanoid chimera revealed and cleaned it in the pool. “It’s inorganic.”
“I… suppose?” Aclysia responded, confused and disappointed. The Omniverse was pure magic. It was a tree, but the trees on Leaves were made in its image, not the other way around. It had no obligation to be similar to what they called trees. ‘Still, darling has been capable of eating magical essences in the past,’ she thought. ‘How peculiar.’
“Well, at least we have another pointer towards ya not being a Parasyte in nature?” Reysha tried to find something good in the situation.
“That has long since been established,” Aclysia stated firmly.
“It’s also long since been established that I'm great at stabbing the life out of shit and I still reaffirm it every time we go in a dungeon,” Reysha shot back. The guardian angel opened her mouth, then groaned when no return quip came to mind in time.
“Can it be split?” Apexus repeated his question.
“Yes, although it needs to be consumed fast,” Aclysia responded.
Apexus snapped the seed along its length. It was surprisingly easy, like breaking a cracker with a deliberate weak point. The insides shimmered silver-white, like Aclysia’s hair and the branches of the Omniverse. He handed both the mortal party members their half.
Korith eyed it for a moment, before starting to chew on it. As if she was a common rodent, she gnawed at the tip. Reysha took a hearty bite and quivered ecstatically when the undiluted essence of magic hit her Noir-twisted taste buds. “Oooooh, yessssssshhhh,” she slurred and stuffed her face with the seed as quickly as possible. Even while her cheeks were stuffed, she sent Apexus the kind of glance that let him know exactly what would happen once she swallowed.
The nymphomaniac had reached critical desire.
Before the inevitable orgy could derail everything, Aclysia checked on the last three chests. She found a pendant that was enchanted with light magic, creating a soft and steady glow. An extra light source for Korith, so she could take the front without being dependent on Apexus or Aclysia. Also for Korith was a new surcoat. Enchanted cloth that didn’t offer anything in terms of additional protection but provided heat regulation. Valuable in its own way. Last was a ball of red slime that Aclysia couldn’t quite identify yet. She stored it away for the time being. The loud, lustful gasp that followed Reysha swallowing the seed marked the end of her venture.
Korith finished around the same time, the orderly method of munching ultimately proving more effective than stuffing her face with more than she could chew. Neither of the two looked much different. At mid-twenty, they were in their physical prime so there was little to revert. Under the surface, Reysha was cured of minor liver damage she had caused herself. One of Korith’s horns righted itself ever so slightly, correcting a minor shift from a head bumping incident when she was a toddler. That was as far as that went.
The more pronounced effect was the ferocity with which Reysha mashed her lips on Apexus’.