DD 204 Ch 30

Chapter 30

"We're going hunting?" Felin asked, popping her head out of a pile of cushions. Apparently, while Penny and I had been gone, Felin and Slytha had been returned to our home. Ambrosia was still doing her job, hovering over the two of them and keeping them out of trouble.

"Yep. In particular, a group of Nagas attacked one of our safe zones. I can’t ignore this, Slytha. No offense," I said. She shrugged.

"What color were they?” She asked.

“Red?" I hesitated, wondering why the color mattered. Slytha made a long, drawn-out 'O'. "You don't have to apologize for killing those bloody idiots. A lot of them are warmongers and barely tolerated amongst our people," she said.

Felin tilted her head to the side. "Do your people not get along because they're different colors?" She grabbed at her tail, the blue and white stripes. "Am I bad because I have blue?"

"No, Felin. It doesn't matter. Not to mention, most of the Nekorians I've seen are like a dozen different types," I told her.

Felin paused before bobbing her head. "But my color's the best color," she gave a firm nod at the end of her statement.

I started to say something else before giving up and nodding in agreement. "I have to say, I'm a fan of the white hair."

Felin crossed her arms and nodded to herself. "Of course you are. White hair's the best hair."

Slytha smoothed a hand over the white fin atop her head for a moment before speaking up. "No, my people are not harmonious. But that is not unusual. From what I have learned, the demons are the same. Apparently, all of the different types of demons hate each other," she offered.

I shrugged. "Remember, I'm not really a demon. I don't actually know. But it wouldn't surprise me. Humans are tribal too. So, Red Naga are a different tribe," I said.

Slytha nodded. "Yes, it's probably even worse than you imagine because of the dungeon and the way it's structured. The different tribes essentially inhabit different areas of the dungeon. Communication between us is seldom at best, and even then probably only occurs between bored clutchmothers in neighboring spawning pools. They are sacred grounds where hostility is not allowed.”

I nodded along, not entirely understanding the last part but leaving how they procreate alone. “So, I am going to try to track a few down. If I’m able to secure Naga, would you be willing to help us get answers?" I hesitated as Slytha cracked a vicious grin showing off that she had razor sharp teeth behind those lips.

"Oh no, I would love to interrogate some reds. And besides, I'm a matriarch. Even if our people don't get along, they'll still respect me for my power alone. Although I will say in their defense, they probably thought they were killing dwarves. It’s an easy mistake.” She offered.

“We think some of the humans have been in contact with them and essentially targeting their human competitors with Naga raids in order to come clean up the mess and claim their property after." I offered more information.

"Oh, that sounds exactly like something that the reds would do," Slytha hissed. "I wouldn't put it past them to even work with dwarves if it was for their benefit. And you want me to strip their skin for some answers?" She asked.

Hesitating on her word choice, but leaving it after a moment of thought. "If you would," I said, waving my hand to the side and opening a portal. "Oh, by the way, can you heal?" I asked Slytha.

"Of course. Any good matriarch worth the breeding pool that she came out of has a multitude of skills. After all, we have our men collect them and give them to us," she answered easily, as if that made perfect sense.

I paused, turning before walking through the portal. "Wait, wait, you collect all of them?" I prodded.

"Of course. All resources that could possibly make a Naga stronger are siphoned up to the matriarch because she will make the best use of them," she said as she slithered through the portal.

I walked through behind her, taking a moment to digest that information. Penny and Felin came with me. Ambrosia hesitated at the mouth of the portal.

"You said you wanted to become an adventurer. This area is fairly low level. I don't think there's anything that would be able to harm you, not with us around," I reassured Ambrosia.

The dark angel nodded and stepped through. For the first time, I checked her with my CID to realize that she was level 13. And apparently, she was a Magma Caller.

"Well, of course, if I'm currently on the clock, then I should attend to you regardless of where you go," she said, trying to appear as if she wasn't nervous. She was clearly sweating and looking back and forth, as if a monster was going to pop out and rip her heart from her chest.

"Don't worry," Felin came up and clapped a hand on Ambrosia’s shoulder. "I'll make sure no one plucks your feathers." 

Ambrosia folded her wings close to her. "I would sincerely hope no one would do such an abominable activity." 

Felin glanced at the glossy black feathers before turning her head away with a whistle. "Yeah, who would even think of such a thing?" 

While the others settled into the new space of the dungeon, I activated [Eyes of Wisdom], asking the direction of the Nagas who had attacked, then immediately asked if there were any Naga nearby.

There was a blue line on the dungeon floor leading off into the distance. As I looked back and forth, there were no additional lines or indicators that there were Nagas present. I waved the group forward and began our hunt through the dungeon. 

Since we were at the twenty-third level of the floor, moving through and handling the monsters was easy.

That and Slytha apparently felt the need to show off. With negligent flicks of her six arms, she would cast spells powerful enough to one-shot the low level monsters.

"They attacked a safe zone near here?" Slytha asked, keeping up the conversation. 

Another flick of her wrist sent a pillar of water that threw one of the crocodile men all the way to the ceiling of the dungeon. Then several more spikes of water drilled through it, and the monster collapsed into black smoke. A few pieces of loot fell to the ground.

Felin pounced on the mana crystal, stashing it away in the pouch at her waist. 

Slytha frowned at her. "What do you need those for?" the Naga asked. 

"To buy things?" I answered.

"Right. I'm aware that the Orkai seem to favor and collect them, but frankly, I'm not sure why.” She awkwardly turned away.

“What do you do with them?" I asked the matriarch, a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips. 

"Well we use them from time to time to restore mana if needed." She hesitated. "We also stock them in our spawning pools, mostly as prestige, though many older and more powerful Naga claim that they're more likely to breed a matriarch in a pool of them." 

Penny paused and stared at the Naga. "What a massive waste of resources." 

"Spawning a matriarch is not a waste of resources. It is every Naga's dream," Slytha shot back, ferocity in her eyes. Given how favored matriarchs were in their adventuring, it only stood to reason that it was at least favorable to breed more. 

Penny held her hands up. "Well, we use mana crystals for far more uses. It's pretty much taken over the old oil commodity trade," Penny said, causing both the Naga, Nekorian, and angel to look at her with differing levels of confusion. 

"Oil is decayed and compressed carbon sources," I tried to explain. "We had pumped it out of the ground and used it to fuel everything.”

“Why would you use that when mana crystals are so much more efficient?” Ambrosia asked, "The Orkai use them for everything from powering vehicles, floating platforms, the lights in Star City. Not to mention, they're abundantly useful in crafting and forging gear." 

"Well, our vehicles now run on them, as does most of the power grid on Earth…” In trying to explain I ended up having to go further and further into explanation, only to finally pull myself out of the topic and try to move on. 

I used [Eyes of Wisdom] again to find the path that the Naga had taken to reach the safe zone.

***

Three hours later, we managed to make it to a 28th floor where I was not shown a path forward. Instead, I was shown several silhouettes in the distance. I pointed to make the group aware. 

"Looks like four or five Naga that way.” I offered.

“I'll handle this." Slytha flowed forward on her serpentine tail, storming up to these other Naga as if she was their boss. It was similar to what I had seen previously in the way Matriarchs acted with all of the male Naga.

The other Naga were hissing in a circle, conversing about something when Slytha came into view, waving all six of her arms and hissing up a storm at them.

The male Naga all froze the moment they took her in. Some of them began hissing back, but it seemed weak to me even when I couldn't understand them. They all looked down at their tails as they stared at the ground. Their serpentine tails and every other part of them had stopped moving. Even if they were an entirely different culture, they still looked like they were trying to play dead. 

Slytha hissed some more before turning back to me. "These reds seem to confirm your thoughts. They only found this path, and quite directly at that, about a day ago.”

“The SJS has been supposedly helping out with remapping the dungeon since the shuffle," I said thinking aloud. 

"You don't think..." Penny started, before she clamped her mouth closed. 

"They would use all of that information to send Nagas at us." I finished for Penny.

Slytha turned back around and began hissing at the other Nagas. "They cannot confirm that their matriarch was receiving orders, however they believe it is quite possible given how directly she routed them through the dungeon.”

“Were they involved in the raid on the safe zone?" I asked. 

"Well," Slytha paused to translate, then after a moment she shook her head. "No, these five are cowards. They decided to hang back to protect their matriarch's path to retreat." 

Slytha turned around and I could tell she was scolding the other five. "It seems the reds have gotten quite weak lately," Slytha chuckled to herself before she asked them several more questions and then dismissed them with a wave of her hand. 

"What did they say?" I asked. 

"I wanted to know where their next Matriarch would be and told them that they should go seek her out, rather than hiding. Another matriarch of the reds might have the information you are looking for. I too am curious if the reds have been in contact with humans. That would mean they've known you aren't dwarves for some time." Slytha frowned. "That would be vital information to share amongst our people. I can't imagine why they wouldn't have provided it before."

"Would working with humans be taboo?" I pondered, trying to find a reason before something more pressing entered my thoughts. "If we were to fight back against these Naga, how would the other tribes interpret that action? Would it be all out war?" I asked.

“I do not believe so. After all, we have our own system of retribution. Attacking a tribe that already attacked yours would be minimal in the eyes of the Naga. If there's one thing we respect, it's power. If you have the power to fight back, you would not be blamed for doing so. Of course, we would have to recognize you as sentient beings first." She paused for a moment before continuing, "But I think it's safe to say that you are sentient beings, not that I was implying otherwise."

Activating [Eyes of Wisdom], we continued to move further along the route the Naga had taken. 

It didn't take much longer for us to tear through the dungeon and find red Nagas commonly exploring the dungeon. 

Slytha looked around. A few of them had spotted her as we moved, and they glared with clear malice, yet they didn’t dare target her.

"Is it okay that you're in their territory?" I asked. 

She laughed. "Not at all. But they're not going to do anything," she replied haughtily, crossing all three sets of her arms. "They're all underleveled compared to me significantly, and I'm a matriarch. They wouldn't dare touch a scale on my tail, or else I'll rip their spines out through their throats and keep them alive long enough to see me smash their spawning pools to rubble and then let them drown in the egg fluids of their young."

Holy shit. I turned slowly to Slytha. "That was dark."

"Was that a compliment? I like the dark," Slytha blinked.

"No. No, it was not," Penny shook her head. "It was closer to an insult."

Slytha didn't seem insulted at all. "You will have to work on your insults for Naga. As you can see, mine was significantly better than yours."

As we approached the next safe zone, a group of higher-level Nagas tore up the stairs and fanned out. When Slytha paused like she was waiting, I crossed my arms and decided to wait with her.

After about thirty of the men fanned out, a few of the female Nagas slithered up to make way for a matriarch who stared across the space Slytha before she began hissing. There was a slight pause, only for the Slytha to laugh.

"She doesn't know what to make of you. Together the five of us are a fairly eclectic group." She hooked a finger at Ambrosia and Felin.

"I do not know if that is for the best," Ambrosia muttered. The dark angel was looking around nervously at all of the naga bearing weapons, while Slytha hissed back at the other matriarch. “Is it time to go yet?” Ambrosia asked.

“Not until we get some answers.”

“Which answers exactly?” Slytha asked.

“If they're willing to give up the humans who used their people and sent them to slaughter, then we're willing to fix the hostilities on our end rather than clearing out their people." I answered.

Slytha raised an eyebrow before turning back and repeating what I had said, only for the other matriarch to laugh and begin hissing. All of her males drew their blades like they were prepared for a charge. 

"Maybe it’s cultural differences, but that does not seem friendly.” Penny observed.

I had to agree. Tension in the area was rising.

“It appears she wishes to call your bluff." Slytha told me.

I nodded, deciding to pull out one more move to see if we could stop any bloodshed. I ripped open a portal to Haylon and stuck my head through into Crimson’s office.

She let out a little squawk as I appeared. "How did you know I'd be here?” She frowned.

“Because it is the one place no one would ever look for you and you need some peace and quiet?" I offered as Crimson sighed and shuffled papers on her desk I knew for a fact she was not using.

"All right, what do you need?" Crimson asked.

"I just need you to look real scary for a minute." I moved to the side of the portal.

"I can do that." Crimson hopped through my portal, doing a quick glance around at all of the Naga present before red sparks began flashing around her.

The Naga evaluated Crimson with wide eyes, making more noise.

“They no longer wished to call your bluff.” Slytha replied, sounding somewhat stunned. “But they would like for you to send the blood-drenched one back." She pointed at Crimson. “I would also like it. The stories make me want to return to my spawning pool.”

It seemed that Crimson had infected yet another race with horror stories based off of her. Then again, that rampage of hers through the Naga section of the dungeon was probably gruesome.

"Wait, you're kicking me out already?" Limit break dialed down, and Crimson turned to me like she was looking for any excuse to stay in the dungeon. 

"Technically, we're on contract from the UG," I told her. "However, I don't know if we're quite ready to have you smash everything.”

“But, maybe it will help.” Crimson shifted her weight, clearly wanting to go on a smashing spree. “I could use a little letting loose.”

The other Naga matriarch was hissing at several of her subordinates who lowered their weapons before hissing back at Slytha. "She says she will retrieve the communication device and allow you to see who is on the other side, as well as her human interpreter, to help make the conversation smoother. However, she would greatly ask, once again, that the blood-drenched one leaves." 

"Blood-drenched," Crimson grumbled, ripping open her own portal and leaving.

Ambrosia stood frozen, her ruby-red eyes slowly tracking Crimson. As soon as Crimson left, Ambrosia also relaxed.

Felin and Penny were far less affected, though to some degree both of them had become nervous Crimson might go on a rampage. 

"All right, she's gone, now hurry up," I said to the matriarch, releasing some of my own assassin-honed pressure. If what Slytha had said was true, and what they respected most was strength, and I had to display that.

It didn't take long before a female Naga was led up the stairs, holding what looked like a giant serpent’s eye in her hands. 

"Hello. You are humans," she spoke in stilted English. 

"We are. Who is it that you work with on the human side and why?" I asked.

The Naga glanced at her matriarch before the red matriarch hurriedly shooed her to continue. There was quite a bit of urgency in the gesture. 

"I am unsure of the correct name," the Naga admitted. "To be honest, human names are quite difficult for me to pronounce. But we use this to communicate. Activation is simple, but it must sit in a bed of mana crystals to activate." 

She drew a circle in the air above the eyeball. "This motion on the top of the stone will activate it, calling the paired device." She held it carefully out to me.

I picked it up before sucking it into my CID. "Fantastic," I said, a slight smile playing on my lips as I turned to Slytha. "Would you be willing to put on a show for me?" 

She shrugged. "It doesn't appear I have anything better to do. And I am quite curious about humanity now that I know you aren't tall dwarves." 

The other Naga matriarch hissed something at Slytha, but she waved a dismissive hand at the red. “We should go before we overstay our tenuous welcome.”

Realizing we had successfully done our job, I ripped open a portal back to the safe zone that Penny's father ran and stepped through with the rest of my random party.

"Did you get the coordinates, Penny?" I asked. 

She nodded, tapping at her CID. "Now that we're back in UG territory, I'll send it to the director right away." 

"What were you planning to do with the eye?"

I held it up, a giant grin on my face.  "Oh, you know, play a little game." The grin that spread across my face couldn't have been more devilish. I was going to enjoy this far too much.