DD 204 Ch 14

It had been four days since we figured out who was going to make our meals and a whole week after we had returned to earth from our misadventures from the Dungeon Shuffle.

We had been zigzagging our way across the dungeon, bouncing between level 45 and even going as high as level 30. At this point, I felt confident that the Nekorians were not going to pop up.

But having that concern alleviated didn't stop us from portaling back to a comfortable location every evening. While there was a certain camaraderie staying in campfires in the dungeon, the comforts of a bed and the security of Star City was hard to beat.

We were on the 40th floor heading down to the next safe zone.

I panted as I stabbed both of my swords into the ground. "Time out. I think we should break for food." Everyone turned to Felin. 

"My turn," she perked up. "I already made BLTs." She opened up her pouch and pulled out the sandwiches one by one. They were a little smushed, but at least the bacon looked fresh.

I took mine and bit into it. The juicy tomatoes really hit the spot.

"Felin, don't lie," Penny said, taking a bite. "Charlotte helped you with these, didn't she?" 

I said nothing. This BLT was certainly a step above the last several times Felin had made the sandwich and I wasn’t complaining.

Felin looked away, not meeting Penny's eyes. Though her tail told the full story. "I don't know what you're talking about. Bun Bun helped me with them," she said after a moment, causing all of us to squint at her. 

"Bun Bun helped you… make a sandwich?" I asked, not believing a word of that. 

"He helped me pick out the good tomatoes and lettuce," she nodded her head, her ears flopping a little as she cemented her lie. 

Charlotte nodded along with her. "She's right, sometimes just having the good ingredients make all the difference. And besides, this time I made sure she used a kitchen knife to cut the tomatoes."

Felin’s tail flicked back and forth excitedly. "It was this knife! It's actually pretty fun." She pulled out a butcher's cleaver and Charlotte put her head in her hand. 

"I told you not to wave them around." Charlotte groaned.

"What? It's a good knife," she said, playing with the blade and testing the sharpness on her finger. "A good knife is a very important tool. Like claws. Now I have a better knife and I can make better BLTs." She mimed chopping with the cleaver.

I looked down at my own sandwich, wondering if I could see where she had likely maimed the lettuce and tomatoes with the unwieldy knife. Sure enough, all of the cuts showed the mark of a little brutality rather than a neat slice. 

"Well, either way, I'm happy Felin has now managed to make passable BLTs." I gave the Nekorian a smile.

She nodded happily, hugging her knife before stuffing it back away in that miracle pouch at her waist that was far larger on the inside. Somehow objects seemed to condense when they approached its lip. 

"I wonder how much longer we have before we find Alice," I said, picking the conversation back up.

We were currently on the 40th floor and the bronze doors for the boss loomed in the distance. This area was fairly easy going. The floor turned out to be a bunch of weird birds made out of vines, but we hacked through them simply enough. Des’ green fire was particularly effective.

“Can you use your eyes to figure that out?” Penny asked.

"I'm not quite sure how to use Eyes of Wisdom like that," I admitted, rubbing my chin and trying to think of options.

Quickly drawing one through five in the dirt in front of me, I asked, "Eyes of Wisdom, how many bosses until I get to Alice?"

The number one lit up and my eyes opened wide. Turning to the rest of my group, I told them, "Actually, according to Eyes of Wisdom, we're almost there. It says just one more boss." I pointed at the bronze doors in the distance. "It seems all we have to do is get to the next safe zone.”

 Felin got excited. “Screw the boss. Let's just skip it and get to the safe zone. Besides, it's only level 40. The loot probably won't even be interesting to us."

Charlotte was quick to nod her head as well. "There's no reason to delay. Besides, I'm not sure how much information on this boss will be worth to Star City."

Des had been documenting most of our fights, along with Penny. They could then sell the information at Star City, providing information on what monsters were on the routes.

Star City was paying mana crystal to help them map out the surrounding area. We had gone far enough that some of these certainly would generate some unmapped areas at present.

Charlotte wiped off her mouth with a napkin and pulled Bun Bun away from his carrots before she dismissed them into her CID. "We should get going.”

“Yeah, now that we're this close, I am anxious to move." I picked up my swords and slipped them loosely into my belt. They were quite large to dangle off my hips, but I didn't have a better way to carry them with me. I didn't want them in my CID because I needed to be ready to fight at any time.

“They are low enough level we can probably slip past most of the packs.” Des pointed out and hugged the closest wall as we made our way over to the bronze doors. We all followed suit, until we slipped through the doors and saw a giant chicken made of vines that obnoxiously pecked around the room.

We slipped past, following along the wall and down the stairs. This time, it opened up into a well-established safe zone. It was immediately apparent which race occupied this area.

"Look, Felin, it's your people," Des said.

Nekorians walked back and forth, tails swishing and their ears twitching, swiveling on top of their heads to the latest noise.

More than a few Nekorian ears swiveled towards Des as we arrived. Their heads followed. After seeing the mixed party, and particularly Felin amongst our group, they seemed to lose interest and continued on their way.

It was quickly clear that this wasn't Felin's people; they were more advanced. Buildings were made of some sort of clay material that reminded me of adobe houses. The buildings had an interesting wood framing of their roofs that wasn't flat with gutters, but instead more rounded.

I turned to check on Felin, whose eyes were as wide as saucers, as she stared at the safe zone before us. She hesitated and took a step back, only for me to step up and wrap my arm around her waist.

"Don't worry, Felin, I'm with you all the way. We can give you a minute, but we aren't going backwards. We need to find Alice."

She paused but then bobbed her head. "Of course, we have to find Alice." She continued to look around, taking in the area around us. "I would never ask that we stop. Just give me a moment." The fierce Nekorian crouched ever so slightly and leaned against me.

Though we had been disregarded initially, our standing still by the entrance slowly garnered more and more attention. In particular, Felin's stance seemed to set off more than a few Nekorians, to the point that a small group, dressed in the same outfits, came towards us. If I had to guess, they were some sort of guard.

"Demon?" One stared at me, pegging me as the leader of the group. I don't know why they all seemed to care so much. Was there something, perhaps like a giant demonic sign, hovering over me that said I was an incubus and the one in charge?

"Sir?" I said, relying on Universal Language. "We were following a lead to find one of my party's family members into the safe zone," I said, standing up straight.

Their eyes drifted off of me, to Felin, who had stood up straighter, with more confidence.

Felin would never back down from a fight, and the way these guys came at us had riled her competitiveness. She stared back at them, becoming the focus before pointing at Charlotte. “She is looking for her sister. They are humans.”

The Nekorian squinted at her. "We do have a few of these hoomans," he said the word slowly, as if unpracticed. "They've been a little trouble, and we had to confine them. We tried to give them a skill book for universal language and get the money to pay for it. But when we tried to take their money, they fought us tooth and nail. If you'd take them off our hands, the shaman here would be more than happy." His eyes drifted back to Felin.

"You have quite the mixed party. A greater demon, a lesser demon, two humans, and a Nekorian." The guard clearly had a set of gears turning in his head. "But we've never seen humans before the dungeon shuffle, and I'm surprised to see a Nekorian already in a party with one of them." 

I waved a hand, trying to get past the discussion so we could get to Alice. "Felin is a recent addition to our party. She came to us just before the dungeon shuffle and has been a valued member of our team as we worked to find our civilizations again." 

It seemed my words helped our case. The guard nodded. "Well, I'm sure the Spirit Tiger Tribe will be happy to get her back. They are pretty scarce now-a-days," the guard said, immediately pegging Felin for some tribe.

Her tail lashed back and forth, and I could immediately tell all of the guards noticed the gesture, their own tails reacting, becoming stiff. 

"Are you a member of the Spirit Tiger Tribe?" one said, squinting at Felin. Her tail lashed back and forth, clearly agitated. 

"It is not your place to ask where I come from," she growled back.

The front guard took a step back, raising his hands, while the others chuckled. "If you had any doubt, it's clear now," another said, ribbing the first. "We are sorry, miss." Another dipped his head. "A young shaman of your tribe should be respected regardless of where you're from." 

Felin nodded emphatically, and I resisted rolling my eyes.

"Either way, can we move on and collect these humans from you?" I pushed.

"Of course," one of the guards gestured forward for us to join the safe zone. "We'll report to the shaman." He then gestured to one of the other group members. "She'll take you to the humans." 

The Nekorian who was to be our guide did a quick bow and then started moving quickly.

We kept pace and Des glanced at me. "That looked like it was about to go bad," she said. 

"We can talk later," I replied. "And we're going to update that urgency on getting you all Universal Language so you can understand both sides of the conversation."

Des nodded in agreement.

We were quickly led to a building that had a bar in front of the door and two guards. The Nekorian guide waved, and the guards removed the bar, only for her to step to the side and gesture for our group to head in.

Charlotte was just too eager, throwing open the door and rushing inside only to let out a squeal in surprise.

I was there beside her in an instant, my blades drawn.

Several of the people inside had their weapons out, but what had caused her squeak was a tackle from a smaller, green-haired woman. "Charlotte!" the woman screamed at the top of her lungs, before handily picking up her sister, spinning her around, and planting her back down. 

Though Alice was a good three inches shorter than Charlotte, she had a rather severe face, whereas Charlotte's was soft and lovable. Alice definitely had what I would call a chronic resting bitch face. Though at the moment she smiled at Charlotte. But the smile quickly faded as she inspected her sister, looking her up and down.

"Charlotte, what are you doing here? These Nekorians are holding us hostage. I thought humans and Nekorians got along." She said.

I held a hand still holding my blade up as I walked into the room. "Can all of you please put your weapons down?" It looked like there were two parties present, both of which had seen better days. They were clean, clothed, and fed, but there was a certain look in their eyes like they were on the edge of a cliff. 

"Weapons down. This is my sister," Alice demanded of everyone around her, and their weapons quickly disappeared into their CIDs. It seemed Alice was at least nominally the leader. 

"And who are you?" Alice crossed her arms, her eyes raking over me before pinching with judgment. 

"Nice to meet you. I'm Ken," I held out a hand.

Her eyes narrowed further. "Uh-huh. I've seen a picture of Ken, and you don't look anything like him." The sister glared at me.

"Sister, it's him," Charlotte tugged on her arm. "It's a long story, though. The dungeon shuffle dropped us deep. A lot happened.”

Alice grunted, apparently that was believable. "Isn't that the story for all of us? Alright, I'll give you a pass for now, because my sister says you’re Ken. But there's something strange about you." She shook a finger at me. 

"Strange how?" I asked. To be honest, everyone had been treating me just a little differently since the change. 

One of the other girls spoke up. "There's just a weird draw, a tug every time I look at you.”

“It's kinda nice, but also unsettling." Another added in. 

I turned to my ladies. They all shrugged and I could only sigh at how ‘helpful’ that was. "Either way, I'm Ken, the party leader for this group. Your father asked us to bring you back." 

"He did?" Her eyes went wide. "How do you... how did you find me?" There was a little more suspicion in Alice's eyes.

I activated [Eyes of Wisdom] in front of all of them, my eyes glowing with the ability, as I tapped the side of my head. "I have a tracking ability, and it works in the dungeon." 

They all seemed to relax with that information and nod along, now being given a reason. It seemed they were all on high alert, and naturally suspicious. 

"Well then, thank you," Alice held out a hand, while she still clung to Charlotte. "We'd love to get out of here." 

"Well, I can do that quite easily. However, we should probably walk all of you out of the safe zone. It seems that you owe the Nekorians here a debt." That and my [Portal] seemed special even to the angels that lived among the Orkai. Best for me to do that out of sight if I could help it.

"They tried to rob us!" One of the other prisoners shouted. 

I shook my head. "They gave you a spellbook." 

"We aren't touching a spellbook forced upon us. What if it does something horrible to us?" Another grunted.

"Do you still have it?" I asked Alice, and she pulled it out of her CID for me. Instead of using it, I tossed it to Des. "Well, if they aren't going to use it, then we will, and we'll pay for it." 

Des put it in her CID before activating the book. There was a shimmer around her. "It's called Universal Language," Des said. "Two people who both have the skill can understand each other, even if they speak different languages." 

Alice's mouth opened wide.

"Oh, and it's valuable. Moderately. There seems to be a large supply of them amongst some of these..." I hesitated about what to call all of them, before settling on "deeper races." 

"Also, these aren't the Nekorians that we have met. The Nekorians we knew were separated once upon a time because of a dungeon shuffle. These are the original Nekorians, who come from their home world, and have gone incredibly deep into the dungeon. There's also Orkai, and Demons, which I now am," I gestured at myself, "amongst many others." 

"You're a demon?" A priest in the group suddenly clutched a cross and held it out towards me. 

I rolled my eyes. "Not that kind of demon. Unless you intend to sprinkle me with holy water, make me touch a Bible, and other such things, let's focus on getting you all out of here."

Alice nodded and turned back to her group. "We'll follow his lead. Everyone, grab your belongings." Alice crossed her arms and stood in the middle of the room, unmoving. The rest of the party, the two groups, scattered, quickly picking up odds and ends they had left around them.

While they were getting ready, there came a firm knock on the door. I gestured for Penny to open it. More Nekorian guards stood outside.

One of the guards I quickly recognized. He was the Nekorian we'd seen on the 50th floor safe zone. His arms were crossed and an older, more mature female Nekorian stood to his side. I didn't need my CID to know she was of an incredibly high level.

Power and authority seemed to ooze out of her and make you focus on her even before the much larger man in front of her.

"That's them," the lion Nekorian pointed at our group. "That's the demon that's raising Nekorians somewhere."

I held my hands up, hoping that the universal sign of surrender worked here too. "You're misunderstanding the situation. If you'd like, I'd be happy to clear it up and give more information. However, I would like to get these people home first," I gestured at Alice and her group behind me.

The older Nekorian that I assumed was a shaman narrowed her eyes slightly at me. But her eyes opened even wider when she saw Felin, and she whispered, "Spirit Tiger." Those words made Felin's ears pin down and her tail curl around my thigh. "Caution," the older shaman advised everyone. "You wish to free these people? They owe a debt."

Des stepped forward with her CID, tapping on it several times before turning it over. mana crystals spilled out. "Does that cover the debt?" she asked, stepping back and crossing her arms.

"It'll do. I would allow you safe passage for the humans. However, I insist that this young incubus, as well as the spirit tiger, stay behind." The shaman leaned on her staff. 

Felin's tail coiled more tightly around my leg, crushing me like a boa constrictor.

I patted her tail before giving it a comforting squeeze. "It's going to be alright, Felin. All we have to do is explain our situation.” I turned back to the shaman. “If you would allow us, I will send these humans back immediately." I raised my hand. I wanted to keep [Portal] a secret, but I also wanted to get the others safe as quickly as possible. If we got trapped, having so many people would be a weakness.

Alice blinked, staring at the portal, but she jumped through soon enough. This was a far better option than what she had in front of her up until a few moments ago. 

I turned back to Charlotte. "Why don't you go with your sister and make sure that she gets to Crimson?" I said, trying not to be too obvious, but I wanted Charlotte to prepare Crimson in case I needed an escape.

Charlotte smiled. "Of course. Crimson's always in the kitchen. I'm sure we can find her there." She tugged Des and Penny away. This might not be a fight for any of us if I had to bring Crimson into it.

The two parties disappeared, as did Charlotte and the other two of my party, leaving me with Felin, as well as a small troop of Nekorian guards.

"Wonderful. Then, if you would, come with me," the shaman turned around and started walking without waiting for my reply. 

The guard bared his teeth at me before turning and walking with her as well.