DD 204 Ch 2

Chapter 2

"I was only asking what you were," the Orkai said, as if Crimson was being a bother. "That was the polite way, but I will try again. Hey incubus, what’s your nubile little sex slave?" 

I bit my lip to stop from laughing. "Oh this one?" I pointed at Crimson, barely containing the smile that was threatening to stretch across my lips. I grabbed her and pulled her into my arms, holding her tight. "You won’t believe this. There's a whole world of them," I said. "Do you like?" 

Crimson looked like she wanted to take a bite out of the other adventurer, however she also seemed torn with being held in my arms.

His words suddenly had a very different connotation with me holding onto her. After a moment of clear confusion on her face, she leaned against me, running a finger along my collar. 

"But master," she said, "I thought you said there weren't any others like me." 

I coughed into my hand and made eye contact with the large Orkai. "There's no one like you. There are, however, plenty of other humans," I emphasized. 

The Orkai chuckled. "Keep that one on a tight leash, incubus. She looks like she can be good for a few things." 

I chuckled back, but there was no humor in it. "You'd be surprised just how effective she can be, especially when she's angry."

I held onto Crimson, who was continuing to play the doting servant, though there was a slight fiery heat in her eyes as she stared up at me like she wanted to gnaw through someone. I had to focus back to English. "Don't cause an issue. I'm pretty sure we don't want to pick a fight." 

A quick check with Eyes of Wisdom, asking the danger, and the Orkai glowed a bright angry red, a clear indication that conflict with him would not end well for me. 

Crimson rolled her eyes. "Of course master," she said again, before turning slightly to the Orkai. "My master was wondering where he could get some work in Star City. After all, he's gotta put me to work." 

The Orkai chuckled. "There are jobs here too." He reached over and poked at our screen, changing it to a different page. For whatever reason, the tablet translated the word to 'Quest', which, oddly enough, felt appropriate. 

"Thanks." I switched back to Universal. "I'm new around here." I held out my hand. The big green Orkai enveloped my hand, and I felt slightly like a child given how big his mitts were. 

"We're all new at some point, but Star City's one of the better of the seven," he said with a distant look. "And after the last dungeon shuffle, it's gonna be a little bit before we can find the path to the other seven again. So, you're stuck here. Might as well make some use of it." He gestured at the screen. 

He was being super helpful, so I decided to follow up with another question. "Don't suppose you could tell me a little more about Star City? Perhaps how one can get started with lodging long-term? I assume we will be here a while. Also, I would love to know if there's any forces within the city." 

He laughed. "There's always forces within the city. If you want the real down low, you should probably pluck one of the angels out and pay them to guide you." He gestured to a building where there were several angels flitting about. "Most of them will work for a few mana crystals a day." 

"Cheap," I muttered under my breath, only for the Orkai to laugh and pat me on the shoulder.

"Of course, when you're not worth much, your time is cheap, too. And mine's a little expensive, young incubus." With that, he turned back to his display with a certain finality.

I knew a dismissal when I heard one. My eyes shifted to Crimson in my arms. "Perhaps we should get an angel to help. It would be best to learn as much as we can about the city before we go spill the beans to the UG and have them show up here." 

Crimson grunted. "Stupid scaredy cat. He'll absolutely send a bunch of analysts." She decided, peeling her eyes off the display. "Why don't you try and work that a little more? I'll find us a cute angel."

I let Crimson do her own thing and turned back to the terminal. Tapping away at the quest menu, I tried to get back to the home screen.

The quest menu was fairly exhaustive, so I started swiping through the options. Some quests were rather simple, such as guard duty, but it appeared not even Crimson was a high enough level to take one of those jobs. Other quests ranged from mundane tasks like being a practice sparring partner, to more typical quests asking for farming of nearby areas or certain items. 

As I swiped through, it seemed that most of these quests were from high-level adventurers who couldn't be bothered to collect resources from lower-level areas. Of course, there were a few suggesting farming nearby bosses, but those were few and far between.

Another Orkai came and moved quickly through the bank of displays, swiping around and filling whatever task they seemed to have. Most of them had a rather practiced motion flowing through it routinely. Some were tapping their wrists against the screens, which made sense if they were depositing or taking on items.

Getting back to the quest screen, I noticed that there was a banking feature. This shop must not be on its own; it was a part of some sort of network.

I kept flipping through the quest screen, looking at our options. Along with requests for resources, there were also several exploration requests.

These were pushing up towards whatever surface worlds these dungeons may be connected to now, after the dungeon shuffle.

I wasn't sure how long I'd been scrolling through before Crimson came back. 

I did a double take as she came in with an angel that was unlike the others. Most of the angels had been flitting around with white wings, blonde hair, and colorful clothing. They very much fit what I thought of as angelic.

However, the one she brought back was very different, similar to the one I had seen only briefly before. By the faint blue glow of Crimson's eyes, I could tell she had used [Eyes of Wisdom] to pick this one out for her own reasons. 

This angel had pitch-black wings, ruby-red eyes, and a black lace and corset outfit that squeezed her considerable bust up high. Not to mention, she seemed taller than most of the angels I had seen thus far. 

"Her?" I asked, pointing at the angel with some amount of suspicion. 

"I am Ambrosia," the angel said, waving her head off to the side as if she was ready to get all of this done yesterday. "What is it that you need?" 

"Well," I said, glancing at her for a moment before turning back to Crimson who was playing with her dark braid, trying not to look at me, "we're new here and also stuck here. We were hoping to get a guide around the city who can help explain what we are seeing." 

The angel narrowed her eyes. "Three red mana crystals a day, or the equivalent," she added hastily. "That buys you my service from morning until night. I will help you in any sort of ancillary way and promise not to spread anything I learn in your employ." She added the last as if it was important. 

Crimson flipped her three red mana crystals. "There you go. You're officially in our employ, which means you can't tell anyone anything." Each of those represented a level sixty plus monster that Crimson had killed.

Crimson then grabbed my hand and walked out of the building, with Ambrosia keeping up with us by flapping her wings to make up any distance.

The dark angel glanced at me. "Now that we are out of the building, are you really a demon?" she asked. 

"Newly demon," I said hesitantly. "I was a human like her. And then... It's a long story." 

"Many mysterious occurrences happen in the dungeon," Ambrosia nodded. "It would be best if you did not disillusion the Orkai of your nature. Demons are respected simply for being a part of the race. It is not uncommon for higher-level demons to protect lower ones within their command structure." 

I nodded along, realizing that the demon rank ability, to some extent, also made the higher-rank demons concerned about the lower ranks. After all, power fed upwards. And perhaps the best way to weaken a strong demon was to kill his faction. 

"That makes sense. So we're stuck here. Some of my people will be joining us. But I want to make sure we A, have a place to stay and B, understand what Star City has to offer."

Ambrosia didn't make any sort of reply, only nodding succinctly. "Star City is one of the seven ancient cities carved into the dungeon. They all move along with every dungeon shuffle. Given the recent occurrence, many people are looking to reconnect them. Participating in those efforts has value.”

Ambrosia gestured at the building behind us. "However, I would say that most of the low-hanging fruit has already been taken. Star City has successfully connected to one of the other seven. Most of the routes being looked at now are incredibly deep." Her red eyes fixed me. "Hell has not been found, so your guise won't be ruined just yet." 

A small thought occurred to me. "Is Hell a tiered city like this one?" 

Ambrosia nodded. 

"Then, are there perhaps nine layers to it?" 

She blinked at me curiously, her expression finally changing. "There would be nine layers to Hell." 

I grunted. "Huh, who would have guessed?”

“Many of the other races and some of their inhabitants do show up in other races' history or their stories," Ambrosia explained. "Some say that it is the knowledge of the dungeon seeping over, but no one really knows. The dungeon is far beyond our understanding. Perhaps even beyond that of the gods." 

Crimson nodded along. "First up, housing. Second, do you have any recommendations on how we could make money while we stay here? Or perhaps... Continue our dive deeper into the dungeon?" 

"Yes, of course," Ambrosia said. "After all, everyone's goal is to delve deeper into the dungeon. Star City wouldn't be one of the seven if it didn't also enable that goal. You'll find there is a healthy economy within the city. Diving in the surrounding areas is always a viable way to make money. As for housing," Ambrosia said, glancing back at the building we had just been inside, "would it be acceptable if we found a different terminal station for us to browse? I know a few in a slower part of the city where we could likely have privacy to talk while we look through our options." 

"Sounds good to me, please lead the way." I said.

Ambrosia nodded, taking a few quick steps to be ahead of us. "How many people will you expect to dwell with you?" She asked already thinking ahead. 

I glanced at Crimson for her opinion. "We'd like to house no less than ten, possibly two different family units." 

Ambrosia blinked and nodded, "That can be arranged, though I will warn you, housing in Star City can be incredibly expensive." 

"You'd be surprised how much money I have," Crimson shot back, only for Ambrosia to give her a dour expression.

"I do not believe I would be." Ambrosia replied.

Her words looked like they physically stung Crimson as she clutched her heart. "I'll have you know, I fought all the way to the 70’s. I fought far deeper than my level would otherwise suggest." 

Ambrosia nodded. "There are many who are skilled for their level, and then there are those that are far beyond your level. The leaders in each of the seven cities are easily in the mid-nineties, if not a few touching level 100." 

I let out a slow whistle, "Damn, Crimson, I feel like we've stepped up an entirely new stage of power, and this time, you're not entirely on top." 

Crimson grumbled under her breath, something about needing a little more time to get there.

Ambrosia had a light smirk on her face at Crimson's discomfort, but the Dark Angel continued showing us to the other terminals.

***

After checking out the terminal with Ambrosia, we ended up with three options that we toured. Crimson was hanging off my arm as we walked out of the third. 

"I didn't think you'd buy a house with me already, Ken," Crimson said, leaning on me like a happily married couple.

Ambrosia was still as stoic as ever. Meanwhile, I couldn't help but notice that a number of angels and Orkai were giving our angel strange looks. 

"Ambrosia, if you don't mind me asking, why is everyone looking at you strangely?" I asked. 

She scowled at me. "I will not harm your reputation. I am just a bit of an oddball amongst the angels." She crossed her arms under her chest. With the corset on, I didn't think her chest could be squeezed any higher, but apparently it could. 

Crimson squeezed me a little closer to her, shoving my arm into her chest to remind me who I was with.

"Right, regardless," I coughed into my hand. "Crimson, I thought that this one was the best, what do you think?" 

"I think between this one and the first one, they're pretty much the same to me. This one perhaps had a smidge more space in that central area," she replied. 

Ambrosia nodded along. "I believe this one was slightly larger as well on the listing. Are you prepared for a line of credit? There are a number of options." 

Before Ambrosia could launch into anything, Crimson waved a hand. "No, no, trust me, I can buy this." 

"Really?" Ambrosia stuttered. 

"Really. I told you before, that I am a woman of means." It seemed that Crimson had a bone to pick here. "Now, do we just go to one of those terminals and buy it?" Crimson crossed her arms while still keeping hers intertwined with mine, pulling me a little closer in.

She had been fighting solo deep in the dungeon for quite some time. Since her return from the Naga homeworld she had reached the lower 60’s and was firmly in the lead for humanity.

"Correct, right this way," Ambrosia said, retaining her stoic exterior and gesturing for us to follow. "You'll learn that nearly everything in Star City flows through these consoles, be it quests, formal employment, or other means of commerce.”

“And we can buy a place to stay," I added. 

As there was one fairly close to our new residence, we were on the second from the top tier. Which, as I understood it, was a poorer area of the city. Being further down on the tiered city was considered higher status. That made sense, given the dungeon got higher level as it went down.

Ambrosia quickly tapped away, setting up the menu for the house we had just looked at, and Crimson tapped her CID to the screen. The tablet then glowed, before a red light locked onto Crimson, and in a flash of something, she had a mark glowing on her forearm that slowly faded away. 

"You are now the owner of the building, and you may use a small local terminal within to establish who can and cannot enter. Buildings within Star City are incredibly secure. Fret not, if they are not permitted to enter, then they will not," Ambrosia explained. 

Crimson glanced at her forearm, before turning back to me. "Hear that, Ken? We have all the privacy we want."

I gave her a kiss on the cheek for that. "Thank you, Ambrosia, you've been a wonderful help. I do think I'm going to bother Crimson to explore parts of the dungeon next. I assume you don't venture outside the city?" I asked. 

"Correct," Ambrosia made a slight bow. "I will have to retire if you wish to go diving into the dungeon." She then slipped a business card out of nowhere and handed it to me. "If you require my services in the future, you may input this into the terminal under Employees and call me for whatever task you have at hand." 

I took the card. There was a small cartoon drawing of Ambrosia with a heart along with a 10 digit number through the center of the card. The small cartoon was quite at odds with Ambrosia herself. 

"If that is all, please excuse me," she said, stepping back and with a flap of her wings, took to the air and flew slowly away.

“One last thing.” I said before she went far. “There are other humans we expect to be arriving tomorrow, would you be available to collect and corral them as they arrive?”

Ambrosia flip over in the air, nodding before taking off again.

"Now that you have me all to your lonesome, what are you going to do?" Crimson asked, bouncing her eyebrows. 

"Oh, you and I? We're going to go make a quick trip to the Elves, or at least somewhere closer than here. Do you think you can make a portal straight into our home once we're done?" I asked. 

Crimson thought for a second, as if testing the edge of her ability. "I can, but I think you can too," she grinned.

I paused, then reached out for the ability. There was an immediate response, as if I could begin to cast. I quickly restrained it from going any further. My eyes opened wide. "Wait, I have enough mana to cast it now," I realized. 

Crimson laughed. "Of course you do. I think you may have had it for a few levels, you just haven't been concerned with using a portal since you've been stuck."

I felt so giddy, I couldn't help myself. I bounced on the balls of my feet. "Crimson, I have [Portal]!" I tried to keep my voice down, but it was hard.

She laughed again. "Great. Now if we must go chart a path to the elven world, let's get that over with so I can get you back in that giant bed."

I kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you for all the help, Crimson."

"You're welcome. Now don't forget it." She bopped me on the nose before we both activated Eyes of Wisdom, likely asking the same question.

One of the stairwells, third down from the top, glowed bright blue in the distance, and we set off in that direction together.