Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 431 (Patreon)

Chapter 431 – Reunion

Carlos Berrios Caraballo frowned as he headed into the San Jose headquarters for the Puerto Rican Adventurers Alliance, which was part of the American Adventurers Guild. He’d joined because going into dungeons was a better way to make money and keep food on the table than anything else available. Especially since the local dungeon’s starter monster was a form of wild boar. Even with having to split the proceeds with his party, he brought home plenty of meat, which helped the whole family.

Even better, he was a level 39 Spellshooter / Hunter. That meant he could fire magic from his guns, as well as bullets, which made ammo stretch further. And the Hunter profession increased his damage against designated prey creatures, and increased meat and material drops from creatures he killed. Every boar he shot or dismantled in the field gave 50 pounds of meat, as well as some hide and bones. That made his hunts very profitable indeed.

None of that, however, explained why the Alliance office had called him this morning, on his day off, and asked him to come in for a meeting. Yes, he’d risen up in levels from hunting in the Boar Head Hollows dungeon, but he was hardly one of the standout talents of the PRAA. Even amongst those with the Hunter profession, he was barely in the top 10. So, whatever this was for, it couldn’t be because of his actual abilities.

And it definitely wasn’t a disciplinary. He followed the guild rules, as did his team, and they made sure to document things properly. Yes, documentation was a pain, but doing it helped avoid a lot of easily preventable problems. And his team weren’t the types to get drunk and start fights. At least, not anywhere on Alliance property.

Walking into the building, he headed to the front desk. Nathalia was on duty today, and the Lesser Succubus’s smile made Carlos forget all about his troubles for a moment. “Oh, Carlos! I didn’t expect to see you today. Sunday is your normal day off, isn’t it?”

“Sí, Nathalia. But the bosses, they wanted me to come in for some reason. Wouldn’t tell me why. Do you have anything for me?”

Nathalia frowned. “Really? I haven’t seen anything come across the Hunter feeds. And, no offense, but Spellshooter isn’t known for magic research or gunsmithing talent without the profession or skills. Let me look real quick.”

Carlos chuckled. “None taken, Nathalia. Like I said, I’m as confused about all this as you are. I know I’m good at shooting things and turning problems into meat, but there are others out there who are better at it than me. And the ones who feel the need to prove they are the best tend to get themselves, and others, killed. I’m not trying to be like that.”

“Mmm. Cute and smart. If I wasn’t already attached to my Mateo, I’d gobble you up in a second, Carlos. Maybe I should give you my niece’s number? She just turned eighteen, and is not only a Lesser Succubus, like me, but a Battledancer and Courtesan, as well. I’ve taught her a few things myself, you know. But most of the boys her age are not good, reliable men like you are, so I worry about her.”

Carlos laughed. “Nathalia, if she is half as pretty as you are, I’d be happy to meet her, at least so she can get a change of pace from the boys her age. But first, I have to survive whatever it is the Alliance asked me in for. I’m not looking to make widows and single mothers, you know.”

Nathalia smiled knowingly. “Mmm. Already planning on knocking my niece up, then? She’ll be happy to hear it. All right, it looks like there is a note here, asking you to head to Conference Room 2. Huh, that’s where the visitor from the mainland is. Just came through the portal about an hour ago. Rumor says that they are one of those reported survivors from Orlando. More importantly, here’s my niece’s contact information, and a list of her fetishes, and you can head on to the conference room. Good luck, Carlos.”

“With the meeting or your niece?”

“Both!”

They both laughed as Carlos turned to make his way to the conference room, and Nathalia gave her attention to the next person coming up to the desk. As he walked, Carlos considered what Nathalia had said. A survivor from Orlando, huh? His sister, Estefania, had been lost in Orlando, five years ago, when the city became a zombie-filled horror movie. The family had given up hope long ago, but maybe this survivor had some news for them about how she had died.

Stepping into the room, he saw three people, sitting at the table. The first was Alexandra Torres Barreto, the Level 45 Dark Knight / Commander who was the leader of the Puerto Rican Adventurers Alliance. Next to her was Sergio Narvárez Soto, Level 38 Wizard / Scholar, her second in command and leading authority on the island for all things magic. They weren’t the most powerful members of the Alliance, but they were the ones everyone looked to for guidance and leadership. If both of them were here, then this guest was very important.

The third person, though, was clad in black robes, with a hood that cast their face in shadow, with only orbs of blue fire visible where the eyes should be. A skeletal hand gripped an ornate staff of black wood, that seemed to be carved in the shape of bones, with the figure of a human skull at the top. Across their body, the creature wore a satchel bag of black, with a silver skull on the flap. Clearly, this was some kind of undead. Given the fact that the Leader and Co-Leader were both sitting there, and not fighting, it meant that the undead was, if not friendly, then at least not hostile.

It did not, however, explain why he had been called in. After all, his class and profession did not have anything to do with undead hunting. Sure, he’d shot a few undead when he went to the Conquistador’s Rest dungeon over in Ponce, but he mostly spent his time at Boar Head Hollows, since meat was more useful for the family than the alchemical materials the undead dungeon provided.

“Leader, Co-Leader,” Carlos nodded. “You asked to see me? I figured it must be something important, considering you called me in on my day off. Since there’s an undead here, does that mean that something happened with the Conquistador’s Rest?”

Leader Torres shook her head. “Carlos, thank you for coming. I know we bothered you on your day off, but this was definitely something that should be handled ‘off the clock’, as it were. And I figured you and your family would want to have some time to process things, before you go back to Boar Head Hollow again.”

Carlos frowned. That made even less sense than the idea that he’d been brought in for some problem with the Rest. The Alliance liked to keep a firm separation between work and family, which meant that they would not be calling him in for something related to the family unless it was important, and may have a significant impact on his ability to aid the Alliance. “My family? So, what is this about, then?”

Instead of answering him, Torres turned to the undead, and asked, “Señorita, how would you like to proceed?”

The undead chuckled. It was an otherworldly sound, decidedly inhuman, which made sense since the thing probably didn’t have vocal cords or the like, so the voice itself would be magical in nature. But still, a Skeleton that could talk? Those were rare, even when talking about Skeleton Mages.

“Really, Carlito? I refuse to believe that even you were stupid enough to get to Level 39 without grabbing some form of the [Appraise] skill. So, why haven’t you used it? Because it is rude? You never used to be the type that let social decorum keep you from asking questions before.”

Carlos’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the undead. Something about that tone, and the way the thing spoke sounded familiar. And only family called him Carlito anymore. But none of them were undead, so far as he knew. However, this undead was the one Nathalia said was a survivor of Orlando. Which meant…

Estefania Berrios Caraballo

Greater Lich Female

Level 2 Bonelord Necromancer / Deathspeaker Scholar

Titles: Survivor, Scavenger, Huntress, Undead Bane, Divine Blessing

Carlos blinked, stupefied at the result of the [Appraise] check. “Estefania? But, no, that can’t be. You were dead. There was no word, and we even had one of the priests do a divination ritual, and it told us you were no longer alive.”

The undead—no, Estefania—chuckled darkly. “Well, they weren’t entirely wrong, Carlito, as you can see. When the System turned on, I was initially a Lesser Lich, but I spent my boons on [Tier 3 Race], [Personal Armor], and [Personal Weapon]. Which made me a Greater Lich, with these robes and staff, which have grown in power, as I have. However, between the Dire Wasps and the Zombies, I, and a couple hundred others, were trapped inside Orlando when everything went to hell. It was only as ‘Lord Kuronoth’, that Dungeon God, was sending slimes into the city to wipe out the undead that we had a chance to try and get to the wall they put up.”

Carlos took a breath. “Lord Kuronoth? You mean the one behind the contracts that we sign to use the portals, and who runs that dungeon south of Miami? Are you one of his worshippers, Stef? Padre Rosado won’t like that, you know. Though, can you even attend mass anymore?”

Padre Rosado was the priest in charge of the Catholic parish down the road from the family home in Caguas. Carlos knew that the Padre had loosened up on some of his pre-System beliefs, especially when it came to acts of violence. Once the man had found out what goblins did to prisoners, and how they changed those they defiled, he had reluctantly agreed that they all needed to be put down, even the children. Still, Carlos had a hard time believing that he would happily allow an undead to take communion.

Estefania chuckled. “Well, let us just say that it has been quite some time since my last confession. And no, I haven’t taken up the worship of Lord Kuronoth. Though I did see him, in person, when we escaped Orlando, and he gave me a blessing, since he was impressed with how I handled myself, as well as this bag.”

Carlos nodded slowly. “I’m almost scared to ask what the blessing and the bag do.”

“The [Bag of Bones] is a bag with pretty much infinite storage, but it can only hold corpses and undead. It allows me to bring the undead I created with me, without always looking like I’m running around with a small army. Apparently, people get a bit anxious when necromancers do things like that, so the bag can be found on the System Shop, if you know where to look.”

“And the blessing? I noticed that in your list of titles.”

“It is a divine blessing from Kuronoth, in his function as a God of Dungeons. It makes me, and any Undead I’ve created immune to Holy, Radiant, and Radiation damage while in Broken Dungeons. Again, not something that is terribly useful in most situations, but is very nice if it ever comes up, since Holy and Radiant magic hurts quite a bit, so being able to ignore it, even if only while I’m in a broken dungeon, is quite the blessing.”

Co-Leader Narvárez stroked his chin, thoughtfully. “The Holy and Radiant parts are understandable, but Radiation? And it only functions in a broken dungeon? That sounds like Lord Kuronoth may be setting you up to be someone who could possibly take on the dungeon out in Nevada, where Area 51 is. Uranium Slime Lords are the creatures being spawned from the broken dungeon, and they are not only horribly resistant to magic, but the radiation they give off is lethal long before you could get into melee range with them. A force of undead that can ignore radiation would be one of the few groups that might be able to take them on, when it comes time to finally try and destroy that broken dungeon.”

Torres frowned at him. “A deliberate set-up?”

“Though I have only met him the once, I do not believe Lord Kuronoth will force that job on me. However, if it ‘just so happens’ that someone he gave a blessing to is able to clear a broken dungeon, then I expect his stock rises. And if I do nothing, then nothing happens. Certainly, nothing disadvantageous to him happens.”

Torres sighed. “Yes, that tracks. If you will excuse me, I need to go call the Grandmaster, and I’m sure that Señor Berrios is eager to let the rest of your family know the good news.”