"What even was that thing?" Aria questions.

"I am quoting a rather old text here, but I believe this to be a Void creature called a Veloper. Its poison is similar to Gravefellica dust, powered directly by the void." Seria says, rolling her shoulder.

"This whole area is still intense with the strength of the void. Even keeping our light going is quite... straining. The light spirits just want to sleep." Rishya nods, with a frustrated expression.

"Mmmm... indeed... I would say the intensity is similar to the upper floors feeling when the Skull Beast was present. Fufufu... the fact that your light is still possible obscenely suggests you have grown still more powerful, Rishya." Seria cackles.

"I...! R-really? Hmmm... w-well... that is obviously the fault of Elijah-sama!" She huffs.

Everyone glares at me and I shrug.

"If kissing you lots gives us plenty of light... I'd do it in a heartbeat." I smile, going up to Rishya and brushing her wavy hair from her face.

"Eck! Kyaaaa!" She involuntarily recoils.

"Elijah... please stop terrorising Rish so much." Aria sighs, flicking my forehead.

"Ow!" I squeal and pull away. Cripes, even Aria's flicks are like bullets. Ouch!

The girls all laugh at me being kinda pathetic, and I have to join them after a second.

We ended up taking a passage off the right-hand part of the large bone floored entry chamber. This room is a large vaulted place, giving the impression of an underground cathedral, though minus the pews and the altar. A small amount of eerie blue radiance filters from above somewhere, but it would still be horribly dark were it not for Rishya's light.

To be honest, with the bones floor before I was expecting more skeletons. But perhaps the undead will be replaced with the otherworldly here.

If the corpse of the Veloper is anything to go by, at least...

I breath out in a sigh, and suddenly, 'Level up! 4 points awarded.' flashes across my vision. I was wondering if that would happen. My suspicion was that the Skull Beast left me quite close to getting two levels at once. Seems I was right.

Aria jumps up.

"Aggh! Again!?" She cries.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Oh right, she gets the itchies when I level. Poor Aria.

Well... what should I invest in this time?

I've already decided, so I don't open the skill forest.

'Exceptional Vitality I and II' For sure.

It's kinda embarrassing, and I think I got away with it since it was their first times, but Aria and Kiku's appetite for sex was pretty terrifying. Were it not for my Etranger bonus, I don't think I'd have even managed what little I did.

I feel a bit bad using the girl's hard work to make myself last longer in bed, for sure... but harem management aids are just as crucial to my survival as battle aids, right!?

Besides, it means that I will hopefully have more hit points and a better tolerance to pain. Passing out instantly due having my wrist severed was pretty scary. As bad as it sounds, I should probably expect terrible injury in the future if I keep fighting, and always having instantaneous healing available from Rishya is expecting too much from the poor girl.

Selecting these two feels strange. It's like my abdomen tightens up even further and my arm muscles expand a bit.

A chunk of pain spikes all at once, making me gasp and fall on my ass, but then the feeling disappears.

I stand back up, shaking my head. Seria peers at me and squints.

"Gods! Boy... you just got taller!" She exclaims.

"W-wow!" Kali exclaims.

Oh... so I just forced a growth spurt on myself at my age? No wonder it hurt so much. My arms are still sore.

"W-what... you're right... he grew half a peklecksel!" Aria's eyes are wide.

"Are you trying to make me feel inadequate, boy?" Seria grins.

"No... no!" I exclaim.

Seria just cackles, of course.

"I... um... I wonder if he grew even bigger between the legs as well!" Kiku chitters, holding her face and blushing.

"Kiku!" I shout.

"Mmm... it might well be concerning if that's the case, though. Hmmm..." Seria ponders, looking over her own small body.

"Master!" I shout in the other direction.

The girls all do a filthy laugh together. I sigh. These girls are insufferable!

Rishya is redder than a tomato and is panicking, though, at least. It's nice she at least still remains quite innocent compared to these other little monsters.

"What the heck did you get this time?" Aria queries out of nowhere, stopping her snicker for a moment.

"Uh... a toughness boost. I honestly didn't expect it to make me taller though." Nice save, me.

Aria comes right up close to me and runs her tender yet calloused hands along me sensually.

"Mm, seems about right. It’s no longer just like someone keeping fit, but rather a whole new training regimen. Hehe... its... pretty manly, now, Elijah."

"Eh wot!? Let me try it!" Kiku rushes over and caresses me as well.

Inevitably it turns into a scene of five girls rubbing my arms and midriff and giving me shivers all over. For fucks sakes!

It almost feels like twelve hands to be honest, but that must be my imagination.

"That's enough!" I exclaim, breathing heavily and throwing them all off.

"Fufufufu... shame... that was quite entertaining." Seria laments, finger to her mouth.

The girls giggle again and I just roll my eyes.

"Um, I wonder if we can scavenge anything useful from this thing?" Kiku wonders out loud, returning to business.

"I'd rather we didn't. Collecting that agony poison for sale seems wrong." Aria crosses her arms.

"Want to burn it does Kali. This place brings things back, no?"

"Mmm... you have a point." Seria nods.

I nod as well. Having this thing resurrect and spine us in the back is a bad prospect.

So, Kali sets fire to the remainder of the corpse.

What will come out next, I wonder?