DD 203 Ch 33 - END

Chapter 33

The Orkai and the other angel moved quickly ahead of us. The way he casually strolled, moving at what would be a dead sprint for me, told me enough about his high level.

Instead, I turned to the angel who spoke English and seemed to be our guide for the moment. 

"I'm sorry, I never got your name.” I paused, waiting.

“My name is..." What she then said started with an 'L U' sound, followed by a trill and several sounds I did not have a comparison for, before ending in another 'L U' sound. 

I chuckled. "Would you be offended if I called you Lulu?" 

"Not at all. That's a lovely name," she said, emphasizing the statement with a spin midair. She looked so free with how she bobbed and wove just beside me as I walked along the bridge. She was off the edge, seeming more comfortable there. 

"Well, Lulu, if this is Star City, do you mind if I ask how it was made?" After all, it seemed to be built into what was two safe zones and five dungeon floors.

"Not at all. That's common knowledge," she said. "There was a great warlord of the Orkai. It's said he was over level 100 when he cleaved through the dungeon floor and created a city amidst the hole he had created." She gestured to the city in front of us. "He then went on to explore the depths of the dungeon and left it behind for his people as a place of respite and an attempt to tame the savage dungeon for civilization." She gestured at the city.

"That's quite the story.” The idea of one of these Orkai being level 100 was honestly more terrifying than the idea of him cleaving through the floor of the dungeon and building the city. “What happened to the warlord?" 

She shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he went further down in the dungeon and made another city, or maybe he died." She said the second statement as if it was of no consequence, though I would think a hero like that to anyone would be rather important. 

"Haven't people gone looking for him?" I asked. 

"Oh, of course. But you must understand, most of the people of Star City or any of the other cities amidst the dungeon are lifers," she said. 

"Lifers?" 

"Yes, for those who dive the dungeon, going up and down isn't always the best option, though you can get quite quick about traveling. Eventually, something like Star City gets made. Though it used to be deeper." She gestured at the magnificent structure once again before her gesture spanned out to the many entrances along the wall. "Each one of those leads to a different dungeon floor. That means in a place like Star City, they can gather and concentrate all sorts of resources. In that way, Star City has become a huge trade hub, able to trade with a massive 70 different dungeon floors." 

Glancing around, I did a quick count. There were seven layers, each with ten entrances. I squinted. Some of the entrances were only 20 or 30 feet apart. "How do those lead to different floors?" 

Lulu shrugged. "Don't ask me. Though, the Orkai have spent many years trying to calculate the strange spatial paradox that is the dungeon," she said. "Some of them claim it branches into the fourth and even the fifth dimension." Even though she said the words with emphasis, there was no excitement on her face. "The Orkai like to study everything," she said. 

At this point, we were reaching the city proper and I could see many Orkai and angels amid the pillars. Very often, each Orkai was followed by several of the angels, flying to make themselves eye-to-eye with the Orkai or sometimes flying just above. Most of the angels were women, however, there were a few male angles. Yet every Orkai that I saw all appeared male. Well, either they were all male or I couldn't tell a male from a female.

All of them were massive, at least eight feet tall, some even a head taller than that. But they were dressed in finery, or at least expensive and high-level dungeon gear. 

As we moved into the city, the exterior was covered with pillars, as well as walkways throughout the city. Meanwhile, houses filled in the space between the layers. It was truly something of grand design. I could only imagine what else the Orkai could make.

As we walked through the city, on the second layer from the top, many of the Orkai turned and regarded us, pausing their conversations to look our group over. There was even one large dwarven queen that we saw pause and stare at us.

However, the green-skinned humanoids made up the vast majority of the population.

"Just over here," Lulu said, flipping around one of the columns and heading for a building. Like the rest of the buildings, it was made out of the same pristine white stone, though it wasn't particularly large. It had enough size and windows that I suspected it was something like a hotel, or maybe closer to a small inn.

That comparison proved true when she opened the door, and inside stood the most variety of species we'd seen since walking the streets. There was a party of Nekorians, as well as a dwarven queen, and even a Naga matriarch in the corner.

I briefly wondered if she’d been the escaping matriarch from the safe zone we were camped in.

That was forgotten as my eyes were immediately attracted to a woman at the bar. A long black braid hung over her shoulder and I would know that red leather bodysuit anywhere.

Crimson spun around at our entrance and held her arms out wide. "Ken! You finally made it!" She slammed back the last of her drink and waved us over to the bar.

I stared at her as she stood with her arms open, and only after a moment did I step in and wrap my arms around Crimson, squeezing her waist with all of my strength as she shoved my head into her chest and patted me on the back.

"There, there, Ken." She laughed.

I struggled against her, trying not to let her shove me into her bosom.

However, Crimson in this was adamant, it seemed, as she used her full strength to hold my head against her and sway slightly, smothering me in her cleavage.

I patted her on the shoulder, suddenly struggling to breathe, and she let me up. I gasped for air. "Crimson, if you were here…” My eyes narrowed on her, quickly starting to piece together the situation.

“If I were what?" She said, giving me another once-over before she tapped at her chin. "Something about you is different. Wait, don't tell me... You leveled up!" She laughed. "Don't worry, you had the censors with you. And I kept checking to make sure you were fine. There is a new theory on Earth that with these intense shuffles people have leveled up significantly," she gestured at me. "As you can see, it was just another round of intense training."

I squinted at her. "How long have you known we've been down here?"

"Months," she answered, not missing a beat. But then she tapped next to her eyes. "I knew it was going to be good for you. Also, when you barricaded yourself inside the raid, I assume that was you that covered the entrance with sand. I decided to let you guys hunker down and train. Besides, the world went on without you, and there was plenty of other work for me to do. God knows that the UG is making me work my tail off."

"Another round," she gestured at the Orkai bartender, pointing at her drink, and then pointing at me and the rest of my party. "By the way, where's the princess and her guards? I thought they would be with you.”

I stared at her, still processing what was happening. “We just went and fought the boss, so I wasn't... We only brought a group of five." I honestly was struggling with what to say. Crimson being here caught me off guard in multiple ways.

"Well, I'm sure Broken Blade is going to have an absolute blast when she sees this place, and Miriam will find some way to make a penny out of it, I'm sure. From here, there's probably a way back towards the elves." Crimson glanced off to the side, as if seeing through the buildings into the mini entrances that connected to Star City. She was likely actually seeing through the walls as her eyes lit up bright blue, and she used [Eyes of Wisdom] to confirm her guess.

"I haven't been back to see the elves," she said. "I assumed if I showed up without the princess, they would throw an absolute fit."

Felin sat down next to Crimson's seat and waved at the Orkai before pointing at several of the bottles behind the bar, doing her best to order things that looked like Irish cream.

"Yeah, well, we'll have to get them back. Also, Miriam isn't with us, neither is Tish. Don't suppose you've seen them?"

Crimson had already gotten another drink and had it halfway to her mouth before she stopped and slammed it down on the counter hard enough to make the glass crack. She gave me a stiff smile. "I'm sorry, what? The censors aren't with you?" Her eye twitched.

"Actually, it is a little worse. Right after the shuffle, Prince Albar had a set of assassins that poisoned Neldra with something called Healer's Bane. Even reviving her won't fix this one. It's resistant to the cleanses that we have, and also gets stronger when she's healed."

Crimson let go of the glass before she shattered it. "You mean you had none of the censors able to help you?" Her eye continued to twitch even harder. "Broken blade was useless." Red lightning sparked from her eyes, and the bartender took a step away from Crimson.

"Yep, that's about it. But on the good news, it was intense training and we leveled up."

She threw her hands up in the air, lightning all the way down to her fingertips. "But you were in actual danger."

I chuckled at Crimson's concern. Yes, we were in actual danger but at the moment, I was glad for the progress we had made.

"Crimson, calm down.” I told her.

“You don't hate me, do you?" Suddenly the warrior appeared vulnerable.

"No, Crimson, I don't hate you at all. It's not as if you could have predicted what happened in the dungeon, nor could you have prevented it. We all fought the raid with our life on the line, and yes, that was stressful, but maybe it was worth it," I said, taking my drink as the bartender felt more comfortable coming back over to our group.

“How are your stats?” Crimson poked at my CID that wasn’t working.

“They should be good, but that stopped working after this.” I pulled at my white hair.

Crimson raised and eyebrow and then turned to Felin who was sipping different white liquids with various reactions. “Can’t the pussy cat just use the tattoo?”

I took a sip of what looked vaguely like green beer to hide my embarrassment. I should have thought of that, but in fairness I was still reeling from the multiple surprises I’d been hit with. The beer had a bit more bite to it than I expected, but otherwise, it was actually a fairly good beer.

The rest of my party all started taking seats. 

"So, Crimson, what else is happening back on Earth?" I asked changing the subject and vowing to get Felin to work her magic with the tattoo the moment we had some alone time.

She leaned back in her bar seat. "A lot's happening. Everything kind of went to shit," she said. "We lost track of almost 70% of active adventurers in the dungeon, and we've only reclaimed 60% of those that were lost during the shuffle," she said, before hesitating. "That number has probably gone up a little, but we know there's a good chunk that we will never see again. We had adventuring down to a science, thinking we could play the dungeon, but it seems we got a little too comfortable," Crimson said, taking another drink. "Because when things really went bad, a lot of the groups that got stranded down the dungeon didn't last long. Without a safe zone to retreat to, or with more hostile forces, like the dwarves or the naga," she glanced at the two groups in the room, "they didn't fare so well." 

I shared the glance that she sent the other races. "Should we be worried about them? Here?" 

Crimson scoffed, "No. They wouldn't dare do anything in this place.”

“Really?" I asked. "Are the Orkai that strong?" 

Crimson bobbed her head. "Oh yeah. If I weren't me, I wouldn't even be so relaxed." She hooked a thumb at the Orkai cleaning out a glass behind the bar. "He's level 50, and he's just a fucking bartender."

The Orkai likely didn't speak English, but frowned at her tone.

"Yeah, I'm talking about you, bub," Crimson said back at him. "The naga and dwarves here aren't nearly that high level. I saw one of the guards, and he was freaking level 82," Crimson said. "He was a guard, not even one of their adventurers. Though, I think he may have been a retired adventurer." 

"What about the angels?" I asked, waving a finger around and looking for Lulu, our guide, who seemed to have already disappeared. Her task was apparently to deliver me to Crimson, and then she had ventured off.

Crimson made a face. "Not entirely sure what their deal is, but they're fairly subservient, and oddly happy about it," Crimson raised an eyebrow with a confused look on her face. "All I know is the one I met here over drinks. I talked to her about adventuring, and I guess her entire race pretty much tries to become casters. Those that become melee classes, or worse, tanks, actually give up adventuring," Crimson explained. 

"They give up, if they become a tank?" 

Crimson hummed in agreement. "I guess, in order to fly, all of their bones are hollow. Which means they have like half of the weight you would expect when they take swings. Not to mention, they're apparently fairly fragile." She shrugged, "At least by whatever standards the angel was talking about. Then again, I think most things are fragile compared to these big green machines."

She hooked another thumb at the bartender again, who glowered at her, clearly not understanding, but not liking her gesture or her tone. 

"I fought a couple of them in this arena they have on the fifth floor," she scratched at her teeth and rubbed something off of her nails. "Dude was like hitting a brick wall. To think these things are not only giant walking walls of muscle, but apparently more advanced than humans by a fair margin," she said. "Rather than CIDs," she tapped the clunky watch on her wrist, "they actually implant themselves with something," she mimed injecting into her arm. "And it has all of the technology, apparently powers off of their own internal mana, and does all the same shit." 

Crimson held her hands up. "Not to mention, apparently, they have hovercars." 

I almost spit my drink out. "Hovercars?" 

"Yup, we're talking like Jetsons level hovercars. The angel showed me a bunch of pictures on her little thingy," Crimson made a gesture unable to describe what she was talking about.

"And don't even get them started talking about math," she grumbled. "Both the angels and the orcs, apparently, are whizzes with numbers, and that includes money. When I went to buy a room here, they suddenly hit me with, like, eight payment options. All of them required more math than I think I had even done in college. In the end, I just paid a flat fee. Besides, I have plenty of mana stones, which is, by the way, what everything costs here. Hopefully you have enough for your room. If not," she shrugged helplessly, "then you can just bum a stay in mine."

"Is that invitation open to all of us?" Des winked from the other side. The group had all been listening to Crimson talk.

"I suppose it is," Crimson said. "But maybe I'll get all of you a separate room so I can have Ken to myself. After all, I'm sure you've been hogging him, Des." Crimson stared straight back at the temptress. "I mean, he looks rather hunky now that he's high level," and she leaned closer to me, "Ken, something happened to your eyes."

I chuckled and ran a hand over my face. "Only, now you noticed."

Crimson shrugged. "Now that I have noticed, it's hard not to notice."

"Yeah, well," I pointed at Des, "we did a thing. It may have gone wrong, or it may have gone incredibly right. After all, I think it looks like an upgrade." I decided to embrace my most recent changes. "Before you drag me off," I said, glancing at Crimson, "I think first we have a little shuttling to do. Elysara needs to get back to her people, and that means getting Neldra patched up as well."

Crimson frowned and mumbled into her green beer, "Stupid Broken Blade, can't even handle herself. Why should I help her?" She said the last a little louder.

I poked Crimson on the side. "Because, despite how much you antagonize and tease Neldra, you still like her. Now, I think we have a little bit more work to do before we get to relax. And we need to figure out what to do about school."

Crimson blinked at that. "Simple," she gestured around, "we'll hold class here. Besides, I think at this point you guys have gone far beyond the curriculum that Haylon would have prepared for you. After all, it’s not like they even know what each level looks like or how to prepare anymore. Why not break free of those confines and start here? I'm sure the Orkai have something for learning how to adventure."

Crimson gave me a giant grin. "Besides, you know that going back and trying to pretend like you're college students once again is just going to be stifling. At this point, you are all well and truly adventurers. It's about time we started to teach you how to dive the dungeon like real adventurers and take the training wheels off."

I swallowed audibly because if what we had done so far was considered training wheels by Crimson, I was afraid to see what came next.

AN - Welp, that's it for this book. We will transition into class structure in Star City next book. I am taking 2 days to go back and do a few tweeks on expectations for the raid as well as Ken's mental gymnastics to not kill the Prince. I got... idk a little statted out with Returner and had an odd aversion to them while working on this book. Sorry about that, it's a big flaw since stats are a core part of LitRPG, but I'll work on it. A bigger update to come this weekend. Followed by AO 4 on Tuesday morning.