The two, Sargon and Demi-Ura, were still doused in the water and continuing their making out session. The things were progressing towards the point of no return. Sargon did find her attractive and he was liking what was happening now but… There was a big but: he didn't love her. It was merely an attraction and it felt wrong to get that intimate with her. He wanted to do it, his body was very honest about it, but his mind said no. Maybe it was immature, but he wanted his first time to be with someone he truly loved, someone he will marry.

He gathered his strength and pushed Demi-Ura away. Even though it was a gentle push, it was full of resolve. The demoness had none of it and tried to get him back in her embrace.

“No.” His voice was commanding but the ‘man’ in him felt conflicted. Regardless he continued. “This is as far as I am willing to go.”

Demi-Ura looked at him with a hint of confusion and disappointment in her eyes. The mood changed and became awkward. Sargon believed that it was the best if he explained his feeling here and now.

“It is not because I don’t like you. Quite the opposite, you are very attractive. It is just that…” He struggled to put his feeling into words.

“You're shy?” She asked, confusion gone from her eyes. Her face was back to the expressionless one she would always have.

Sargon looked down confirming his nakedness which was apparent in clear water, he was past that point.

“No. It is just that I want it to be with someone very special, someone I truly love.” He said it with a voice full of emotion. His heart was racing even more than it did a minute again, but this time it was from the adrenaline and not arousal. It took strength to refuse a woman like this; he felt relieved he was able to do it.

“But you like me?” She asked while looking right at Sargon's eyes. She was trying to judge the honesty of his words.

“Yes, I do. You are very beautiful and your proportions make me want to…” He was getting carried away again, he could not let it happen. “Yes.” Sargon nodded stopping himself.

There was a pause. He expected her to say something or ask ‘Why is it a problem if he likes her.’ However, there were no words or any anger. Demi-Ura was satisfied with that answer even if her expression didn’t show it.

She walked out of the pond back to the place where she had her belongings; Sargon fished out his armour and followed her. He wanted to talk with Demi-Ura some more but he didn't know how to start a small talk, not after everything that had just happened.

After putting their clothes on, or at least most of it, Demi-Ura shared her meal with Sargon. The two nibbled at hard cookies, they were silent the entire time but the mood was no longer awkward; Sargon began to relax.

“Do you mind if I stay with you for longer?” He asked. He still intended to convince her to come to the surface.

“Stay.” She said nodding her head.

Sargon spent the night and the two chatted a bit before the sleep. However, he was unable to find the reason behind her unwillingness to leave the dungeon. He wasn't good at convincing either. Honestly, he didn't feel like pressing her too much. She seemed happy here and didn’t even want to leave. It was his idea to bring her outside, he thought that maybe he was being selfish.

The two huddled next to each other for warmth and finally fell asleep.

…

Then the next day came, Sargon headed straight out of the dungeon to meet his companions. He hoped that they didn't spend his share of the money on trivial things. The meeting spot was the spot under some rugged cloth, the place he currently called his home. Hopefully, it was the last day; he wanted to buy a proper house.

He pushed the cloth away and entered inside, Lilith and Tasha were already waiting for him. The first one to greet him was the enthusiastic tail owned by Tasha, she smiled seeing him back. Lilith, however, had a different greeting in mind. Her face looked stern and her eyes were narrowed as if they were judging him.

“Where have you been the entire night?” Lilith asked sternly.

This was a stupid question, she already knew where he had been. The dungeon where else, but, through painful experience, Sargon knew this wasn't the answer she wanted.

“Like I said, I spent it with Demi in the dungeon. We …” He swallowed remembering certain event before continuing. “We talked, ate and slept together. Did you guys miss me?”

“You slept together?!” Tasha asked putting a fake surprised expression, she was clearly teasing him.

It was not very helpful. Sargon decided that it was the best if he ignores Tasha's attempts to embarrass him. Lilith was still looking at him like he was a criminal. Sargon thought ‘Why do I deserve this?’.

“Look I am back. Why don’t we head out and buy ourselves a new home?” He said cheerfully hoping to distract Lilith from whatever she was thinking.

“Yey! Finally!” Tasha was enthusiastic as ever. “Also, that mini-boss core was extremely valuable.”

“We might even have leftover money if we buy something humble.” Lilith added, her sour mood cleared.

“That is amazing news. Let's go!”

The trio headed out to look for something fitting their needs. They took their time at selecting the house, it had to please all three of them since the money was shared. By the evening they found something they liked.

It was a simple clay building next to other buildings just like this one. It was neither fancy or shabby, it was the most average building. It had two rooms: a bedroom they will be sharing, a kitchen with dining area and a small room for storage. The bedroom was big enough to house four or even five people, so it was perfect for them.

“So, this is it?” Sargon asked setting his stuff on the ground by the corner.

“Yup, our new home. I am so happy. This will beat sleeping on the street.”

Even though all the clues were there, Sargon had no idea Tasha slept rough.

“We even have some Shekels left over for furniture and other stuff. Speaking about that. What will Demi-Ura do with her share?”

Lilith was aware of the fact that Demi-Ura will continue to live in the dungeon. She actually liked it that way.

“She will probably tell me to buy cookies. But there are only so many cookies she can eat.” Sargon said something painfully obvious.

“You need to talk some sense into her. Weren’t you supposed to do that last night?” Lilith asked bitterly, her mood from the morning was suddenly back.

“He was too busy sleeping with her” Tasha teased again stressing the sleeping part.

“And now I will be sleeping with the two of you so what is the problem?” Sargon said in his defence, he was an innocent man.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Tasha laughed at his retort adding. “Aren't you a lucky man?”

“Yes. Yes, I am, friends like you are all I could wish for. I am actually very lucky to have you two.” He said his honest feelings while looking at the two.

His sweet words dispelled Lilith’s bad mood in an instant.

“Me too… I could never ask for a better friend. If not for you I would have never left the temple and experienced the dungeon for myself. I haven’t ever thought I would say this, but I am happy that I had quit being the priestess and joined your party.”

“Me… Me too… I am so happy…” Tasha was getting overly emotional all of a sudden.

Sargon tough there was enough of mood swings for this time and called it a day.

“Okay. Let’s get to sleep, tomorrow we are back exploring the dungeon!”

…

The next morning the trio met up with Demi-Ura and continued their adventure. They made it all the way down, past the labyrinth-like tunnels and mushroom forest right to the sixth floor.

“This is it?” Sargon asked his more experienced companion.

Demi-Ura gave him a nod. They were standing right next to the rough staircase going down.

“The seventh floor. This will be very different.” Tasha informed Lilith and Sargon.

“Just how different?” Sargon asked. He was excited.

“You will see. Let’s go.” Tasha replied while going down the flight of stairs. She was leading the party down.

Sargon and the rest were quick to follow. It felt like the staircase was going forever and he has beaten a thousand steps but he was keen to see where they will lead him. Just as he emerged from the doorway and reached floor seven his eyesight was assaulted by the bright light and vivid green colours. His eyes got adjusted to brightness quickly and he found himself standing in a big hollowed cave. The ceiling was high, at least fifty metres up, and full of light emitting crystals. It was so bright his eyes hurt from staring at them for too long.

The bottom of the cave was filled with various flora. There were thick trees with huge branches and numerous green leaves atop. Multiple green vines hung on the branches and various creepers crept up the trunks. Below the trees where were bushes of various sizes and shapes, and below them were sparse grass, moss and saplings. The greenery was thick and it will be hard to traverse it.

“Wow, this is so different from ant’s tunnels.” Sargon was overwhelmed by the sudden change in environment.

“Yes, it is quite beautiful, isn’t it.”

“Definitely, but will we be alright? What sort of enemies are here?”

“They aren’t strong. We’ve beaten [Ant Guradian] so I don’t think simple monsters here will be a hard challenge.” Tasha made an educated guess. She had been here before but she had never had to fight before.

“We’ll be OK.” Demi-Ura also agreed on Tasha’s judgement.

“If you say so.” Sargon felt encouraged by the two and approached the overgrowth. “Follow me.” He invited others to follow while cutting the leaves and small bushes with his sharp coa blade.

Demi-Ura assisted at clearing the path with her tail blade, but Sargon’s weapon was more effective.

“This is quite tough. Plants are everywhere. We should get some machetes so we can help, no?” Lilith made a good observation.

“That’s a good idea.” Sargon had to agree. It would be quicker if all four of them could clear the path.

Sargon chopped and hacked clearing the plants and making his way deeper into something that resembled the jungle.

A loud shriek reverberated through the cave. It was like an echo so it was hard to tell where it came from exactly, cave walls caused the sound to bounce around.

“A monster!? But where will it come from?” Sargon asked nervously.

“It could be anywhere. It’s not like we can see much over the trees and bushes.” Lilith too was slightly nervous about the unknown.

“No. I know almost exactly where the monsters are.” Tasha boasted.

“Really?” Sargon was surprised. He had forgotten that Tasha had been as deep as floor 15.

“Yup. In this floor, it’s the trees. We need to keep looking above our heads, [Shriekers] like to drop from branches right on you.”

“That does not sound safe at all!” Sargon was worried about his party’s safety. He was the only real fighter here.

“Nah, it’s Okay. I can fight.” Demi-Ura was able to guess what Sargon was thinking. "So can Lilith and Tasha."

“[Shriekers] aren’t that strong. If we get them before they drop it will be easy.” Tasha explained to everyone.

Sargon wondered how he will do that if the monsters were high above on the branches. He was unsure if he could get one in midair while it dropped. He didn’t think his reaction was that good.

“Like this. [Bullseye].” Tasha used one of her skills firing the crossbow bolt away.

The bolt flew up past a few vines and small branches and hit the monster directly in between the eyes. It shrieked one last time and dropped down; its body got caught by a bush.

“Nice!” Demi-Ura praised the beastkin.

“That was unexpected and amazing.” Sargon was impressed.

Just as he finished his sentence, he ran to check the monster Tasha had just killed.

The [Shrieker] was grey in colour and looked almost like a monkey. Almost because it had a head resampling the one of the bat. It had big leathery ears, black round bulging eyes and a maw full of needle-like teeth. Both its front and rear limbs had sharp claws on them.

“Does it have a core?” Lilith asked.

“All monsters have cores.” Sargon stated the obvious while cutting at the [Shrieker] with his dagger.

He butchered the creature looking for the core. It was hidden right behind the ribcage. Sargon sized it in his hand, it was the same size as for [Warrior Ant].

He showed it to others. “Not bad, I guess?”

“Yup. Easy kill.” Tasha smiled back to him. She was happy to be this useful.

“Well then, we will be relying on you more from here on.” Lilith patted their ranger’s small back.

Tasha responded with a “Yes!” and energetic tail wagging.

“I wonder what other types of monster are here and what sort of materials we can obtain.” Sargon was already counting the Shekels he didn’t have. It seemed that adventuring will become quite profitable from here on.

“You’ll find out soon.” Demi-Ura nodded at Sargon.

This was the floor seven. A floor different from the floors above. It was a completely new adventure with new challenges and rewards. New monsters will be killed and new materials obtained. Maybe, even new friends and party members will be made from now on. Only time will show how this adventure will turn out. Whatever it will be the goal didn’t change. That is to reach the bottom of Dungeon Tower Babel.