I had {Crowd Surfer} which was badly named. I don't surf on the crowd, I weave between their legs. But whatever. I didn't need that perk because my mastiffs in their battle gear were awesome. They had a spiked collar and a kind of dog barding armor to protect their bellies, legs, and shoulders. Not the head because they needed mobility. Over the winter, I made them a fae silk bodysuit too. The amount of damage mitigation they had was astonishing. Now I needed to get them some levels.
I worked with them and some materialized ghosts from the soldiers that died around the capital. We trained techniques to fight together, including combat commands. I couldn't bear to spend all the time butchering monsters, could I? I even gained a few dog-related Skills.
> Riding [dog] (uncommon): Increase control and maneuverability of mount.
>
> Animal Training [dog] (common): Increase the learning rate of trained animals. Allows for minor growth adjustments when leveling up.
>
> Animal Handling [dog] (common): Increase loyalty and discipline of managed animals.
The training Skill gives me some control as to where the dogs spend their freebie Attributes, Skills, and Perks. At higher levels, it gives the trainer control over their Status and even some growth bonuses. I also trained a new Force spell to help them level but that's a surprise for later.
We arrived relatively late for the morning rush. I left the dogs outside, sitting near the door and entered the building. At the information desk, I asked about Cedric's party. They were delving. The gate records showed that they descended three days ago. Armed with that information, I picked what monster harvesting quests were available and registered them for me. Then I went to the Dungeon. Baelor waved me through without blinking this time.
A Dungeon is almost like a giant ritual diagram. The more things die inside, the more monsters it spawns. The more people fight inside, the more monsters it spawns. The more creatures spend time inside, the more monsters it spawns. Managing a Dungeon was an art. Leave it alone for too long, and a stampede occurs. Sometimes it blows in the underground world and the surface people never hear of it. Mismanage it by letting youngsters die inside without culling enough monsters, and a stampede occurs.
That's why Baelor blocked me the first time. It was way less to keep me safe than to keep me from becoming a sacrifice to feed the Dungeon.
As I mused on the bizarre and fantastical ecosystem that was a Dungeon, the spirit motes swirled around the tunnels. This world was a living being. If it is conscious or sentient, that's another discussion, but here the Gaia theory was real. The world makes mana and it leaks out into the surface. The Dungeons leech energy off of these magic veins, or ley lines if you want a parallel with Earth terms.
As I entertained myself with Dungeon's ecology, my first test subject showed up. A monster was coming, something hard skitting on the tunnel floor. Maybe a multi-legged monster, I had no idea. And honestly, I didn't care. I used my new spell.
"{Force Binding}!" <---- That's the new spell!
It created bands of the force around the neck and limb joints of the creature. Thee will immobilize the body and prevent them from attacking. Once {Detect Monster] showed my prey was immobile, I got closer. What I saw with my limited perception was a centipede.
I removed my sleeve and let it bite my arm. Venomous. I show the dogs that they can't let the centipede bite them and feel a bit stupid. Of course, they know that. Then I give them another lesson. I shift into a mastiff myself and bite the side of the centipede. I bite carefully because an attack on a restrained target is almost an instant critical and I have too many bite perks. Then I give them the order to attack.
If I could, I would delve as a mastiff. But other delvers will attack us, either thinking we are stray animals or monsters. I found a group of five sentients, delvers coming my way up the tunnel. No intersections so an encounter was inevitable. Following Dungeon protocol, I shouted.
"Hail the tunnel!"
Immediately two of the presences vanished from my detection. Another two stopped where they were and the last one approached.
"A halfling girl and two dogs," he said out loud. Probably to alert the [Rogues] coming behind him.
"Well met," I said through the illusion.
"Delving alone? Do you think these mutts will protect you from what is down here?"
"Please don't patronize me," I replied.
"Okay, okay. You surely look strong enough to--"
That's when the [Rogues] did it from behind. They do love to one-shot mages.
One backstabbed my illusion, the other slammed on the cage around Valiant. Spirit barked. I knew where they were through {Tremorsense} but didn't care if they wasted their time bashing on my spells.
Time to show them how a master does it. We do it in the darkness.
> You stabbed Patronizing Delver. You dealt 90,821 HP of damage. ( base 23 x 0.5 size x 1.3 Strength x 1.5 enchantment x 2 Skill x 3 critical x 3 Backstab Skill x 10 Assassinate Skill x 1.5 Giant-fighting perk x 5 Death Blow Perk x 3 Mana Strike Perk )
>
> Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
>
> You stabbed Patronizing Delver. You dealt 106,616 HP of damage. ( base 27 x 0.5 size x 1.3 Strength x 1.5 enchantment x 2 Skill x 3 critical x 3 Backstab Skill x 10 Assassinate Skill x 1.5 Giant-fighting perk x 5 Death Blow Perk x 3 Mana Strike Perk )
>
> Patronizing Delver is afflicted with Bleed. Losing 2,725 HP (Base 1% of damage x 3 Hemorrhage Strike) per second for 45 seconds (base 30 seconds x 1.5 Hemorrhage Strike).
>
> Patronizing Delver is afflicted with Bleed. Losing 3,199 HP (Base 1% of damage x 3 Hemorrhage Strike) per second for 45 seconds (base 30 seconds x 1.5 Hemorrhage Strike).
>
> Patronizing Delver is afflicted with Stunning Bleed. All combat Skills halved for 45 seconds.
>
> Patronizing Delver is afflicted with Stun. Duration 33 seconds (base 5 seconds x 0.75 perk x 0.64 Endurance x 3 Stunning Ambush x 3 Stunning Bleed x 1.5 Hemorrhage Strike).
>
> Patronizing Delver is afflicted with two doses of black binder's sap. Dexterity will be reduced by 2 per second for 1 hour.
And with a little drop of poison.
I checked his HP. The stab alone took more than half. Unless he receives healing, he's gone. Unless he has more than sixty-six Dexterity, he'll be paralyzed when his stun wears off.
As for the others, "{Force Maiden}!"
A person-sized crossbreed between the force cube and the tunnel trap spell, shaped like a sarcophagus. It's the classic medieval iron maiden but with Force walls instead of iron. I can't even hear them screaming as they cook and bleed inside the cages.
But now that I caught all of them, there's no reason to make them suffer.
> Assassination Successful. Contract completed.
>
> For killing level 55 Patronizing Delver, you gained 1,057,419,000 Exp. (base 30,250 x 34,956 modifiers).
>
> For killing level 51 Noob Rogue, you gained 909,205,560 Exp. (base 26,010 x 34,956 modifiers).
>
> For killing level 53 Noob Rogue, you gained 981,914,040 Exp. (base 28,090 x 34,956 modifiers).
She giggled and shrugged from inside my soul.
I sent the bodies to the dimensional storage. One day, I'll raise an undead army with all the corpses I'm holding. Not today, though. I give Valiant and Spirit a treat and walk to where the last two members of their party are still waiting for their companions. I didn't put a light on. Holding on my mastiffs' harnesses, I led them down the tunnel.
"Who... who's there?" A youthful male voice.
"Put down your weapons," I warned.
"Where is Zach?" He asked.
"Who the fuck is Zack?" I shot back.
"Why are you in the dark? Zack was the guy that went up the tunnel to meet you."
"Kid, I'm always in the dark. And Zack didn't go to meet me. He and his rogue buddies went to murder me and you know it. Well, I'm still here, sooooo."
"Are you going to kill us?" The other, a girl asked.
"How many other delvers did you see them kill?" I asked.
"Look, we won't cause you trouble," the boy said. "Zack had the tags of the delvers he killed with him. That'll prove he killed them."
"We are just slaves," the girl said, "without a master now. We can belong to you. We can help! We carry the luggage, we can even... service you at night if you want to. My brother has a big dick."
"Lorna!" the boy protested.
"Shh, Eric! I don't think she likes pussy," she hissed-whispered back.
I actually think I prefer tacos rather than hotdogs.
Spirit growled. I think I might need to discipline her. I scratched the head of my bitch and she stopped growling.
"Sit," I ordered.
The kids obeyed just like the dogs. I walked up to them and reached for their faces. "I'm blind. Let me see your collars."
I touched their faces and necks. They were adults, young adults. But in this world, anyone past puberty was an adult. True to my fears, they had slave collars. I sliced my finger with {Soul Scalpel} and registered myself as the new owner with contractual magic. I'll release them soon enough. But one thing made me curious.
"What species are you? I know you are not human."
I felt something furry scrape against my calf. "Touch my head," Lorna said." I reached up. I touched the crown of her head and she twisted until I found... a triangular ear. Hot. Furry. I touched the other side and found another triangular ear. There was a part missing as if it was ripped off. I pinched it and Lorna gasped.
"Cat ears?"
"We are kin. Cat-kin," Eric answered. "I have cat ears too if the mistress wants to touch."
"We are descendants from the legendary cat princesses," Lorna said. "A long time ago in a land far away, there were two princesses that were blessed with the power to transform into big cats by a fairy."
Fuck.
"It was a fabled land where fairies lived among people who could transform into beasts," Lorna continued, "And as the blood mingled and diluted, our ancestors lost the power to transform but we kept our animal ears and tails."
"Or so our elders taught us before we were caught and enslaved," Eric added.
"But that was years ago. We were but small children," Lorna corrected.
Fuck.
Afraid of the answer, I asked Lorna, "And are there only cat-kin?"
"No. There's the wolf tribe, the bears, foxes, the rat tribe, rabbit, and many others," Lorna answered.
I sucked in a huge breath and let out slowly.
"Stand still, you two. Valiant, Spirit. Come. Let the dogs get your smell. They won't attack you."
I guided the dogs to learn the scent of the cat-kin siblings. After they were comfortable with each other, I asked, "You were the porters for the adventurers, right?"
"And the cooks, cleaning crew, among other things," Eric said with disgust in his voice.
"Eric!" Lorna chided her brother. I could hear him cringe. His pent up anger was to the point of bursting.
"Shh. Lorna. Let him speak. Did they rape you?"
And that was it. The young man cried. Lorna couldn't maintain her tough facade and broke down with tears. Spirit licked her tears.
"That won't happen ever again," I promised them. "Come, let's find a place to camp. We can't go to the surface now."
"The luggage..." Eric said.
"I'll get it. You two don't need to carry anything."
----------------------------------------
We made camp in one of the many dead-end tunnels. I fed the dogs and made a revitalizing monster stew for the three of us. Once they were comfortable, I told them my intentions. After our return to the surface, I would remove their collars and offer them a job. They were free to accept the offer or go on their own.
Baldric's spellbooks had spells from the Slavery school of magic. Sometimes he was required to enslave someone by orders from the King. One of them allowed the master to check a slave's Status. They were levels thirteen and fifteen, respectively. Burdened with a freaking stupid common class. Eric was a [Porter] and Lorna a [Prostitute]. They were forced to pick these Classes by the slave merchant. I felt sick.
It wasn't the fact there was a Class for sex workers that sickened me. It was the institution of slavery.
Lorna had perks to protect her from STD, to enhance the pleasure of her partners, and to protect her from damage to the genitals. Eric's perks allowed him to carry many dozens more weight than possible, balancing it on his tiny frame, and without losing speed to the burden.
I poured stew for them and for me. I started to eat with some fluffy bread from my daddy's bakery while they stared at their bowls.
"Aww, c'mon. If you guys keep up this slave-master bullshit, I'm going to be very disappointed," I said. "Start to eat if it is not too hot for you. That's an order."
They wolfed down the stew and the bread. I put them to sleep with the help of some medicine. The siblings were too agitated. When it was safe, Nenandil came out.
"You sure like to pick up strays, don't you?" She playfully asked.
"They're my descendants. At least as much as it's allowed to me. Laila and Hannah's great-great-great-so-tiring-great-children."
Mentioning Silverstreak's short life always made Nenandil bitter. I cupped my hands around her flying form an brought her closer to plant a kiss on her tiny head. She giggled.
Nenandil grabbed my nose and stroke my skin, "It is fine. You can do whatever you want. Burn the world or save it. It's yours to shape as you will," She cooed.