DD 301 Ch 4

I stood at the front doorway to a massive hall in the inner court, it was big enough to seat hundreds.

Another person walked up to shake my hand and introduce themselves with a giant smile on their face.

“You’ll do great at Haylon. I’m Travis, we just joined Silver Fangs.” He gestured at a woman behind him.

Grandma Sakura had plopped me down here and I had been greeting every single person to enter the hall.

“Thank you and welcome in. We are honored to have you.” I kept a friendly smile on my face and turned for the next guest. Most of them were wearing eastern clothing even though they came from any and every corner of the world.

Only for them to stop and turn towards a figure rushing through the night, heading straight for me as her gorgeous form got clearer in the darkness.

The gorgeous woman approaching me was familiar. Des had gotten a little more curvaceous since absorbing demon blood and officially changing her race. The silk kimono she was wearing was clearly straining under those new curves.

With each bounding stride that Des took, I half expected her breasts to bounce themselves right out of her clothing. Thankfully, or perhaps magically, the kimono stayed tied tight until she reached me. Des wrapped me in a massive hug, kissing me deeply in front of the crowd without a single concern for propriety.

"Oh. Hi, Bob," she turned away from me and shook the next person in lines hand briefly.

"Des," he said, scratching the back of his head. The older man blushed as he looked away. "I'm so happy that your man has returned."

"Me too," Des beamed, pressing herself against me, but let me have a free hand to shake Bob’s. 

Des was now a demonic mage, her class having changed after changing her race. Warlocks borrowed the power for spells, but demons did not borrow power they received. They just used it; it was a part of them.

So, it made a sort of natural sense for her class to have changed.

Des had merged with the blood of a temptress, and that was an accurate description of the woman in front of me. She was nothing if not absolutely beautiful, with rich purple hair and soft red eyes that had lightened from her transformation. And she wore her hair such that one of her eyes was often hidden mostly out of view. I knew that if she brushed the strands aside, it would reveal a heart-shaped pupil, one that she could magically use to capture and enrapture anyone that looked into it. 

Unsurprisingly, she had matched her eyes and her hair well with her kimono. It was a light red bordering on pink that went well with her eyes, with a purple flower pattern dancing across the fabric.

Bob quickly excused himself and the line speed up. With Des pressed next to me, everyone seemed to have a new urgency to get inside the hall.

Des smiled, sweetly helping me adjust to the onslaught of people who wanted to introduce themselves. Des knew everybody by name, addressing them all in turn as they approached. And she would often add in little hints or stories about what they did for the clan in her greeting, helping me make the introduction more personal. Each person waited in line rather than entering on their own, wanting to shake my hand before they entered the hall.

It seemed I was more important than I realized.

"What would I do without you?" I said, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye between greetings. 

"You'd probably still be you," she flashed me a smile, "though not as awesome." 

I kissed her temple. "You're right. You're a wonderful compliment to me." 

She looked at me from the corner of her eyes. At this angle, I could see the heart-shaped pupil underneath her hair. It pulsed a vivid pink, as if it wanted to leap forward and consume my attention. 

"I came back early just so we could spend some time together before we were back at Haylon. I promise, Des." I told her, knowing where her mind was going.

"Sounds like a wise move, both for you and for Crimson. The rest of us would be quite upset with her if she didn't at least give us that much." Des told me.

"She's not that bad," I tried to defend Crimson. Though it was admittedly a weak attempt.

Crimson simply did what Crimson wanted, regardless of consequences or other people's opinions most of the time. There was the rare occasion that she felt some obligation to help humanity in general, such as when she went to teach at Haylon to help build relationships with the elves, or after the dungeon shuffle when she raced around pulling parties and raids out from deep within the dungeon where they found themselves disconnected from humanity. Crimson wasn’t a bad person, she just was very…Crimson.

"How has training been here?" I asked Des to change the topic. 

"Good. I've only been back for the last few days. My parents dragged me away for most of the summer," she rolled her eyes, "but it was good. Their idea of training was different from anything I would get at Haylon." 

"Demonic?" I asked in between the next several handshakes. Her whole family had demon blood in them just waiting for a ritual to bring out their demonic aspects. It was how I had gotten my own demonic secondary class from her and led to me eventually becoming a full blooded incubus.

"Demonic," she agreed. "So not just on getting stronger but also how to use our unique abilities. I think there's even a few things I could teach you." 

She poked me in the chest, but the touch quickly turned into more of a caress. When we had a moment, I desperately needed to drag her somewhere else unless she'd try and rip my robe off of me right in public.

For now I had to shake another hand.

Thankfully, we weren't alone for much longer. Felin tackled me from behind, her blue and white tail wrapping around my thigh as she clung to me.

I shook the next person's hand, ignoring the Nekorian wrapped around me. 

"Thank you for being here and welcome in," I said, smiling while Des detangled me. "You know, you could have gone for a simpler greeting." I smiled at Felin and kissed her cheek before letting her settle on the side opposite of Des. 

"I was just too happy to have you back," Felin grinned, showing off her sharper-than-human teeth. There was actually quite a bit about Felin that was a constant reminder that she was not human. We were slowly finding out there was more to being Nekorian than even she had grown up knowing.

The clan Felin had grown up with had been separated from most of the Nekorian population with a dungeon shuffle before she was born.

Now, with the latest dungeon shuffle, we had been reunited with the main clans of the Nekorians, though it had not gone exactly to plan. The Spirit Tiger clan that Felin so clearly represented, with her white hair and her blue stripes, seemed to be coveted enough that the Leomatis clan that we happened upon even went as far as to kidnap her. 

"Well, I'm just happy you're back, and happy we get to go back into the dungeon. Grandma Himi helped me fill my CID up with fish," Felin waggled the device at me.

I had not been sure that Felin would be willing to separate from the bottomless pouch that usually sat at her waist. But now she wore a CID.

The CID would not function for her like it did humans, instead she would perform her rituals to enhance herself and check her stats.

I knew this summer had been hard on her and was glad that Hemi had taken it upon herself to entertain Felin. She had grown up as a shaman, worshipping the Great One, another name for the dungeon itself. But we had learned that the broader Nekorian tribes all worshipped a goddess, Neko. Felin’s worship of the dungeon was treated as heresy. Still, despite that, Felin remained blissfully upbeat. 

"And what's your favorite type of fish?" I asked her. Knowing Grandma Hemi, she had given Felin nearly everything. 

"Shark," Felin answered without hesitation. "Shark fin soup is pretty tasty, but mostly I like it because I'm eating a predator. Eating predators makes you stronger," she insisted with complete seriousness.

Des squinted before I subtly shook my head. 

"Maybe that's not how it works for humans, that's how it works for Nekorians," Felin stuck her nose up in the air. "Besides, Akira even took me deep sea fishing. I caught three sharks on my own." 

Felin frowned. "One of them did break the line, but then I dove in after it. Sometimes it's better to catch the prey with your own claws," she nodded to herself with emphasis. 

Des and I exchanged a look and the person who would have been about to come up to shake my hand stared at Felin as if she was the strangest thing in the world, which in the world of adventurers, a woman with a cat-like appearance was certainly not the strangest.

However, we were all strong enough to dive in after a shark and kill it. A strange thought given how terrifying the act would have been a few years ago.

"Thank you for coming, and welcome in," I said, taking the initiative on this introduction and rousing the man from his momentary stupor and his faux pas of acknowledging that he was listening in on our conversation. 

"So you two are here. Where are the others?" I asked, looking around, having half expected Charlotte or Bun Bun to come bounding in. 

"Your lovable druid is in the kitchen. If I had to guess, Penny's been roped into much the same." Des answered. “We weren't quite sure when you were coming home, so it was a little last minute for Grandma Hemi. She had all hands on deck to get this feast out to the masses.”

As Des explained everything, I looked at her with a strange smile on my face. It was odd for my girlfriend to know more about what was happening in my house than I did, but at the same time, it was a strangely intimate situation. 

Felin's ear closest to me twitched hard enough to catch my attention. I turned in the direction to see what had caught hers.

"Bun-Bun's coming," Felin said without turning to look at what was making the noise. "He thinks he's being sneaky." She shifted her eyes up, not enough to give away that she knew, but enough to tell me where the rabbit was. 

I greeted the next guest, and in that brief moment when my hand was occupied, there was a stealthy attack from a new furry adversary.

Bun-Bun squeaked and streaked down on top of my head.

I snatched him out of the air without looking.

Bun-Bun became a furry ball of fury for a brief moment as he tried to escape my grip. 

"Come on now, if you had damaged anyone's clothes for the event, Bun-Bun, I think even Grandma Himi would have found a stew pot your size," I said. 

Bun-Bun was truthfully a dungeon monster, even if he looked like a cute fluffy rabbit. He went limp in my hands, giant watery eyes staring up at me as his long ears folded back. He was far more intelligent than a rabbit.

"Don't you try and get out of this," I scolded him, only for him to press his pitiful look even further. 

I handed him off to Des and turned to the next guest. "It's a pleasure to have you and welcome in," I said, shaking their hand.

The pleasantries continued. Des deposited Bun-Bun after a few stern words and rejoined me for the next guest. 

"Could we cook him in stew?" Felin asked thoughtfully. "He's a dungeon monster so the second we put him in the boiling pot, even if he's still alive, he'll just turn into black smoke before he cooks right?" 

I turned to look at her strangely. "I hadn't actually thought through the entirety of the threat enough to consider what would actually happen," I explained. 

"Oh," Felin nodded to herself. "Got it. We aren't actually putting Bun Bun into stew. I do hope if he dies he drops meat, though. That way we could at least fulfill that end." She paused mid-sentence, looking at me and Des as we stared at her strangely. "Nevermind. Rabbit is clearly inferior to fish.”

“Speaking of fish, how much cream do you have in your CID?" I asked. 

"Cream? What?" Felin asked with wide, innocent eyes that were on par with Bun Bun.

"Uh-huh. That's what I thought." I shook my head.

The three of us broke into chuckles that we had to get under control quickly for the next guest, lest they think that we were laughing at them. 

"Oh, good. You guys are all out here," Charlotte's voice came from the entrance behind me a second before she brushed up to my back for a soft hug.

I turned to see the druid looking far more mature. Similarly to Des, she had on a fancy kimono, although hers was covered with a flour-dusted apron at the moment which meant my back was in need of brushing off.

“Himi asked me to see how much longer the line was," Charlotte clarified, looking past us to about 20 more guests and hands to shake.

Since I was already a little dirty, why not make it worse? I gave her another hug. "Is Penny and Crimson in there with you?" 

"Oh, yes. Penny's helping supervise. Meanwhile, Himi just put Crimson next to the chopping block, and we've been having fun throwing vegetables at her, only for diced ones to come out the other side," She. 

Charlotte paused and looked around. "You haven't seen Bun Bun, have you? Oh my I got flour all over you!" She hurried to pat me down and brush off as much as she could. 

"Just missed him," I said, shaking my head. "Seems like he's getting even bolder." 

Charlotte groaned. "You should have seen the day that your grandfather had him help the trainees that didn't have their class yet. Trying to teach them to fight a dungeon monster." 

I frowned. "But Bun Bun is equal to your level. He's far stronger than any…Oh!" I made a sudden and horrified noise of understanding. "How many people were hospitalized?"

"None, thankfully. We got a group of healers there to put them back together. Bun Bun at least held back that much." She rolled her eyes. "We did have to bring Grandma Yui in to revive one. And now the children of the Nagato clan are probably all afraid of rabbits.”

“Well, at least they'll be on their guard in the dungeon.” I tried to find the positive, turning and shaking the next entrant's hands.

"I'll get back to Hemi and finish up.”

“I'd like you by my side for dinner. Don’t let her trap you in the kitchen." I gave her a playful look.

"Of course," Charlotte beamed and slipped back inside.

"Remind me before we leave, Des, that I should do a demonstration with Bun Bun and those new recruits." I smirked.

Des chuckled darkly. "Oh, I think that would be a fantastic demonstration. Perhaps you could let your grandfather participate too."

"Don't tell me he and Bun Bun are still battling." I turned her way, my expression shocked.

"Bun Bun managed to make a nest of some of your grandfather's favorite magazines." Des grimaced.

I gasped. "I'm surprised Bun Bun's still alive.”

“It took three of your grandmothers to restrain your grandfather. And then I think Charlotte went and bought him replacements. At least, I think that's what it was. She was redder than a tomato when she handed your grandfather a massive, large bundle." Des tried to contain her laughter.

I chuckled at the thought.

It seemed I'd missed quite a bit over the summer. But training with Crimson the entire time had certainly been a boon. When we got to Haylon and our party went back into the dungeon, I was going to shock the rest of my class.

I shook the last hand and let them enter before I stretched out my back and shook out my wrist. Then I kissed both Felin and Des on the lips before I gestured towards the doors. "Shall we get to it?"

Des winked at me. "If we slip behind those bushes, I will be quick."

"Quick with what?" Felin tilted her head sideways, making her ears flop, in a cute confused kitten sort of way.

Des gave her a knowing look. "Fairly certain you know exactly what I mean."

"No, I know what you mean, but I doubt you'll be quick," Felin clarified. "You're never quick and if we let you get started, I think Ken will miss all of dinner." The Nekorian wrapped her arm tightly around mine. "Instead, the three of us should walk in together and put on a good show for the clan, don't you think?"

I stared at Felin for a moment, wondering where that burst of insight had come from.

“I am a shaman." Felin rolled her eyes. I wondered if she had picked up that gesture from spending too much time with Des. "With that comes some leadership training." Felin started marching towards the door, holding my arms tightly.

Des shrugged, but didn’t refute any of her claims, moving alongside us as we headed into the dinner.