“Ouch, ouch, tss…” Narias tried to bear the pain on his left shoulder.
Narias had come back to the Supply Point room after yet another encounter with the Crystal Hornhead. He wasn’t trying to get away from it this time, however. The previous couple of his tries proved to Narias he wouldn’t be able simply run away from the elephant-size bug monster. Even if he manages to outwit and outrun the Crystal Hornhead, and reach the next cave safely, the monsters inside the dungeon would stop him from advancing in no time. The real problem about the third floor of the dungeon was that the caves and the tunnels were massive, allowing for a swarm of insect monsters to run through easily.
If Narias was to simply run through the caves, leaving the monsters be, he’d have an army of Pincer Ants running after him with the Crystal Hornhead catching up with him as well. Narias luck would run out eventually, and since he wasn’t familiar with the dungeon’s third floor layout, he might run into another dead-end cave and that would be the end of him. If Narias was to get out of the Magic Dungeon alive, he had figured he’d have to deal with the Crystal Hornhead first before making his way out of the dungeon cave after cave, killing the Pincer Ants slowly and carefully while he’d progress forward.
It was easier said than done, unfortunately. After a few tries to get away, and the last try to actually fight the Crystal Hornhead, Narias was certain the big bug monster had a high resistance to magic attacks. And even if Narias were to be stronger physically, punching through the Crystal Hornhead’s hard crystal shell wouldn’t be that easy either. The bad thing was, Narias was slightly injured and he was running out of food as well which meant he didn’t have much time to spare to wait for his body to heal fully. A dark shadow descended upon Narias when a thought of him dying inside the dungeon, either by being killed by the Crystal Hornhead or from starvation, creeped into his mind, sending cold shiver down his spine.
Damn it. I never thought something like that would happen to me. This fantasy world doesn’t feel like a fantasy anymore. Narias looked up at the low ceilings of the tiny cave he was in.
He knew the world he was living in was very real and his life was amazing as well. However, through the whole time that he had been living here as Narias, Anthony would sometimes think it wasn’t actually real. After all, people could use magic only in fairy tales back in his previous world and he was never very fond of reading fairy tales. Finding different races, like beast-humans, living here was quite a shock for Anthony as well. That was literally not feasible from his point of view.
And then there were his girlfriends, a total seven of them at this point of his life. He wasn’t able to imagine getting a single girlfriend back in his previous world and in this current world where he was living as Narias Talrone he had seven. SEVEN! And all of them were ok with him dating them all. Who wouldn’t have doubts about it being a dream? Narias certainly did. He honestly couldn’t believe it happening when he’d meet his girlfriends every day and they would take turns to give him kisses in front of everyone else. There was no shortage of Narias blushing every single time when that happened. Yet right now, Narias pain and the hard, rocky ground he was sitting on felt very real. So real, he honestly wanted it to be a dream.
As so it happened, with Narias having nothing else to do and all the time in the world that he still had left, his mind drifted to some memories of his past. For whatever reason, the first person he remembered was Layla.
Sigh… Layla just had to say it… Narias suddenly remembered the cute, teenage maid confessing to his parents that he groped her breasts as a three-year-old boy only the next day after he arrived to this world to live as Narias Talrone. That was the most embarrassing moment of his life. Well, his short new life at the time, that is. What came after that could’ve been a dream for all he knew. Layla, the Witch. Humm… Narias remembered Layla’s trap and the amazing time they had spent together in that wooden tree house. Layla was his first true love. First, but not the only one.
Ileena was so serious back then… He spoke in his mind, remembering the first time he saw her, a cheerful smile appearing on his face. Ileena looked so serious, reading the book she was holding at the time, it made Narias gasp in amazement. Nothing was more beautiful to him than seeing a girl read a book. He might’ve lied to himself at the time, trying to convince himself his heart skipped a beat because Ileena was reading a book, but now that he thought about it, it could’ve been that he actually thought Ileena looked very pretty.
Hah, Flavia sure was energetic… and very straightforward too. Narias chuckled remembering how he met Flavia. Flavia declaring Narias would be allowed to ask her out only if he wins against her came as a real surprise and he didn’t think much of it at the time. From someone’s else point of view, Flavia might’ve come out as being forceful with her willingness to become Narias’s girlfriend, but if Narias didn’t like her as a girl, they would’ve never ended up becoming a couple. Maybe he was more curious about Flavia being a half beast-human, but she would also cheer Narias up with her positive, ‘let’s just do it’ attitude. Not to mention, Narias honestly thought Flavia was very cute, and not only because of her bunny ears and her tail.
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I still believe Emilia is a princess… Narias’s mind took him back to the memory where he was sitting in the auditorium on the second floor together with Emilia. Their excuse at the time was that they might be able to find the last member of their team easier, so they could register for their first official Magic Dungeon run. They wanted to get away from the crowd and all the attention too, which was true. But if that was all there was, Narias and Emilia could’ve simply gone to look for Lilna separately instead of staying together. Narias remembered Emilia trying to supress her angelic laugh at the time, which was locked inside his memory forever, opening his heart to her right there and then.
My Dream Woman, huh? Narias face was painted bright red suddenly when he remembered his visit to Belinda’s house and her cherry red two-piece pajama set with her underwear barely covering her buttcheeks. That was a night Narias was never able to forget, nor that he would want to. Him staying for the night might’ve been an accident, but nothing would’ve have happened between him and Belinda if he stayed inside the bedroom he was supposed to sleep in during the night. Narias hadn’t regretted going to Belinda’s house or about what happened between them even once. If anything, he couldn’t be happier about their ‘dream’ at the time coming true.
Milenna truly lived up to her cheekiness… Narias blush hadn’t yet left his cheeks when he remembered Milenna’s gentle, soft touch. Touch of her breasts, that is. He was quick to try and remove those thoughts from his head, leaving only the image of Milenna’s kind yet mischievously cheeky smile in his mind. As perverted as Milenna tried to sound each time they would meet, she had a heart of gold too and that’s what attracted Narias to her. His date with Milenna at El’Roonst showed him Milenna’s girly side of which he became fond of in an instant.
I honestly thought she’s gonna punch me. Sigh… If Milenna was kind and cheeky, then Flamiris was rough and into your face kind of girl. Flamiris wouldn’t hesitate to tell anyone what she thought about them without trying to sugar coat her words in the least. Being as short tempered as Flamiris was, Narias came to learn she was desperately seeking to be understood and accepted as a person, and as a girlfriend too. Once Narias accepted her for who she was, Flamiris couldn’t hide her soft side from Narias anymore. Her desire to burn everything to crisps became the reflection of her passion and feelings towards Narias from then on, making him fall for her before he could grasp what actually happened.
All of his girlfriends were different and had traits that attracted Narias to them. One thing Narias couldn’t understand, even up till now, was what was it about him that was so attractive to all of them. He never thought of himself as being someone special. Narias simply acted in a way he thought he should act as a responsible man, being fair, honest and truthful with each of his girlfriends.
Dad, mom… Huh? Mom? No… Narias exclaimed in his mind, remembering his mom being pregnant. The biggest surprise, not that Narias had noticed it himself, was that when he thought about his dad and his mom, he saw Lorenard and Alvina, and not his parents from his past life. He loved both of his parents whole heartedly, but right at this moment, his thoughts were all about his current mom and dad.
Narias felt his heart being squeezed like he’d squeeze a wet sponge, water gushing out of it like a blood would pour out of the broken heart and it hurt his chest so much Narias had to grip onto his chest with his hand to not pass out. Narias felt worse than if he was to be run over by a truck. Lorenard’s cheeky taunts and comments were ringing in his ears, Narias wishing his dad would be right here next to him. But when he remembered his mom wearing the dress he had bought for her and the belly with the baby inside poking out when his parents were attending his surprise birthday party organized by his girlfriends, his heart sank to his feet. Any and all pain he was feeling right there and then evaporated in an instant when he thought about his parents’ reactions after someone delivered them the message that Narias never came back from the dungeon. He couldn’t bear the thought of hurting his parents so much.
“No, I will not die in here!” Narias stated suddenly, wiping down his tears that were running down his cheeks for some time now. “This is not a dream or some fantasy world. This is the world I live in and I will get back to my mom and dad, and to all of my girlfriends too. A lot of people must be worried about me. Growly, Nicky, Vivia… and the teachers as well. Miss Alifur must be blaming herself for what happened and she must be worried a ton about me too. So many people are waiting for me to come back and I will. Rare monster is still a monster and that means it can be killed. Enough mopping around. I owe it to all of them and I owe it to Miss Alifur too. I am going home.”
The short trip down his memory lane sprung a new life into Narias, reminding him he wasn’t someone who’d give up easily. As tough as the Crystal Hornhead was, Narias believed there had to be a way to defeat it. The real question was ‘how’? Narias stood up tall, wiping his tears away before clenching his fists tight.
“Let’s see how tough you really are,” Narias spoke, marching forward with a determined look on his face. If walls could speak, they would also tremble from fear, because of how fierce and intimidating Narias’s whole demeanor was. He was going home and nothing would stand in his way.