DD 304 Ch 4 (Patreon)

Harley, on her way out, couldn't help herself, pausing at the door to wiggle her fingers at me in a flirtatious wave. "Good luck, favorite student," she added a mocking emphasis.

"Thanks for reminding me, Harley," Crimson shouted after her as she disappeared out the door. "There's considerable opportunity for your own growth. In the coming days, I look forward to seeing your progress."

Harley looked like she was about to die from that ‘praise’, turning to me with big wide eyes.

"Oh, don't even. You're the one who got yourself in trouble." I told her. She loved to push things right up to the line and then tiptoe over it to see what she could get away with.

"I can't help myself. It's not my fault," she insisted, only for me to give her a look of utter disbelief. "If you took just a little more responsibility for your actions…" I started, and she ran off with her fingers stuffed in her ears.

Crimson sighed and turned back to me, now that everyone else had left. "Well, now that everyone's going to go work on their stats, isn't it about time you gave me my premium stat treatment?" she said, bobbing her brows.

I could do little more than stare at her in disbelief. "That's why you told me to hang back?"

Crimson gave me the kind of smile that said it absolutely was, and she didn't regret it for a second. That fact was only reinforced as she slid the door closed and turned the lock with a click.

"Crimson," I said sharply in reprimand.

"Scold me again," she cooed, and cupped her cheeks, wiggling herself back and forth.

I looked at her, then around the empty classroom. "Make this quick," I said, and she bobbed her head. "I want agility," she said quickly, and I raised an eyebrow in question. "Because it's best for both you and me," Crimson waved a hand. "Later, when you're already bloated with stats, we can work on magic and mana and things I'm not patient enough to work through right now. Agility is best for both of us."

I grabbed her by the collar I'd put around her neck a while ago and let it tell her exactly what I wanted, sinking her down to her knees. I couldn't help but smile as I grabbed her by the base of her long braid and pulled her head back, her mouth falling open, tongue hanging out.

I often wondered what the rest of the world would say if they knew the real Crimson. But those thoughts stopped as her mouth closed over me and sensation pulsed through my body.

***

"Oh, there you are," Penny said as I entered the gravity chamber after the rest of the class. Des stood nearby and drew in a long breath through her nose before staring at me, wide-eyed, the eye often hidden by her purple lock of hair thrumming with whatever she'd smelled.

"Did you and Crimson have fun?" she asked with a knowing smirk.

"Let's not pretend we don't know," Crimson said with a wink.

"Don't tease a woman like that. We're delicate creatures, you know," Des pouted, and I shook my head at her mischief.

"I guess we can continue to pretend you are, can't we?"

"It's not pretending if it's true.” She huffed and spun. “Alright, Harley, you're with me." Des grabbed the pink-haired bard by the wrist and began dragging her through the course.

"What did I do wrong?!" Harley shouted, swept up in Des's sudden urgency for exercise.

"Well, I'm glad to see those two have some spirit," Crimson said, stepping up with considerable swagger in her hips and a massive grin on her face.

Penny turned to me and lifted an eyebrow. "Crimson seems happy," she said with about as much tact as one could manage, given the subject.

"I think that's a good thing. A happy Crimson does lead to at least a marginally better life for the rest of us." I offered.

Penny seemed to think about that for a split second before nodding in agreement. "You're right. I didn't mean to imply anything else." She blushed.

"Alright, everyone, cut the chitchat," Crimson clapped her hands. "We'll begin with some running. Des and Harley have the right idea." She said the words in the sort of casual way someone might describe a normal workout. Meanwhile Des and Harley were sprinting under the effects of the gravity chamber. "And then after you're completely and utterly exhausted, we'll move on to strength training."

Crimson walked over to the keypad by the entrance, and suddenly gravity slammed all of us down as she cranked it up higher. I absorbed the initial shock of the change by bending my legs and sinking a few inches before standing back up in a more stable stance. Everyone else in class did much the same. We were all used to the gravity chambers after all the time we’d spent in them. More than a few of us had our own personal gravity chambers, an incredibly convenient item we used often while traveling.

As the running began, I fell in with my classmates. Though my agility stat was high, and I easily overtook a number of them, it wasn't so high that I could completely smoke them. They were all training incredibly hard even without a trial ability boost. Though over half the class had one now.

My stats were high, but I was still with the main pack as we pushed forward, sweat beading down our faces, our muscles burning with lactic acid. The only difference between us and a normal person exercising was that a normal person in this situation would simply end up as a flattened pancake on the ground.

"I want to see you all run till you drop," Crimson cheered, her whip cracking behind us.

Those in the back of the pack had their ankles nipped, while those in front would eventually cycle back as the ones behind pushed hard enough to get ahead, if only for a few seconds.

Crimson cheered and chased after us like a maniac. "When you think you're finally too tired, that's when the real training begins!"

We took her statement for the threat it truly was. Crimson would absolutely work us to the bone before dialing up the weights and beginning strength training. I would question her methodology if it hadn't already proven itself, time and time again, to be incredibly effective.

We finished our run, and everybody had sweat pouring down them, collapsed on the ground as Crimson knelt down beside us.

"Alright, everyone, push-up position." She prodded.

The entire class groaned, which only seemed to make Crimson happier. I knew better than to give her that satisfaction, at least in that regard, so I got right to work pumping out push-up after push-up while the rest of the class groaned and struggled to get into position.

"See, Harley? This is why Ken is my favorite," Crimson said, and I winced.

"I could do that if I wanted to," Harley snapped.

"Oh, you could! So what you mean to tell me is that it's not a matter of being unable to perform, it’s simply a lack of desire?"

Harley stuttered and looked around for support.

I held up my hands. "Oh no, you just threw yourself right into that one. I wish you the best," I said, bowing to her.

She glared at me with the kind of fierce determination I wished she'd put into her actual training. "You will pay gravely for this, Ken Nagato," she spat.

"No, you will pay for that," Crimson reassured her. "Back to work, everyone. Don't worry, Harley will make up for all the extra work by going double-time herself," Crimson announced, and the entire class groaned as Harley became enemy number one.

"Don't look at me like it's my fault!" she shouted, completely failing to convince anyone.

"Harley, one of these days you're just going to learn to keep your mouth shut," Des spoke slowly as she continued her push-ups with the kind of dedication I didn't normally see from her.

"This isn't fair," Harley shouted as she pressed her face to the floor and continued her workout.

Crimson nudged me and smirked, though I gave her a small scowl. This was not going to win anyone over to her way of thinking. She pouted in turn and stomped away, and I figured I'd somehow messed up in that exchange, but it didn't really matter. We were all going to simply continue working until we dropped. That was just the way training had to be run.

I did another pushup, stalling as our CIDs all began to chirp at the same moment. Immediately after, the gravity chamber let out an alarm and we felt the gravity release its hold on us.

"The Orkai gods have taken pity on me," Harley shouted.

"I doubt that's what's happening," Crimson said, and before she could say anything more, I had my CID up, looking to see what had pinged all of us.

Alert to all adventurers in Star City below level sixty: there are two dungeon swarms happening in the area. One on the fifty-eighth floor. There was a link, no doubt to a map. The other on the fifty-third floor. Please exercise caution if you wish to use this to train.

It was a simple, concise explanation, as one would expect of the Orkai.

"No," Harley gasped, looking up at Crimson, whose grin threatened to split her face.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Harley?" Crimson said, aghast.

"We’re exhausted. You're not going to make us go into that, are you?" Harley asked, wide-eyed.

Crimson smiled. "It's always wonderful to practice when you're exhausted, because if you can function while exhausted, then you can function anytime."

"That's like saying if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball," Candice said. "It's a fallacy—" she began, only to see Crimson's expression at that analogy and decide it might be wiser to close her mouth.

I appreciated her pausing, though the damage was likely already done judging by the massive smile on Crimson's face.

She checked the map and immediately ripped open a portal. "Everyone jump through, weapons out. Farm as many dungeon monsters as you can," she cheered. “In fact, the goal is to kill at least a hundred per person. I’ll grade you all on a bell curve so get going!”

Although the class was clearly exhausted, they dragged themselves to their feet with the tenacity you'd expect from people who would one day be among the foremost adventurers in the world.

Even as we stepped through into the dungeon, there were a large number of Orkai showing up in droves.

"Oh, look…humans," one of them said with a laugh as our group funneled out of the portal. An older Orkai smacked the one who'd spoken in the back of the head.

"Do not antagonize them. Even if Orkai might be stronger than them as a whole, you personally may not be." The larger Orkai crossed his arms and nodded to our group. "I apologize. Some warriors are over-eager to prove themselves, lashing out more readily than the beasts they claim to be better than."

The one who'd spoken first looked clearly uncomfortable and dipped his head.

"Better," the older Orkai said, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Everyone must learn that learning itself is not the problem; it is those who lack the temperament to do it. Now, we all have a surge of monsters to take care of, do we not?" he boomed, and everyone in his group burst into action.

Crimson looked at us. "What are you waiting for? Chop, chop." She grinned before glancing at the older Orkai. "What do we say to a friendly competition? Whoever can slay the most?" She tapped her chin.

"A bet of honor is always one worth taking. My people will happily participate. And I'm certain, even if the worst comes to pass, they're mature enough to lose gracefully." The older Orkai shouted.

The young Orkai who'd called us out before blushed heavily and raised his axe, roaring as he rushed forward. At that point, the rest of us could hear a low vibration building in the dungeon. We hadn't spent much time on this particular floor. It was filled with floating ghosts, all of them with wildly long, luscious hair, like a thousand ghosts of Fabio tossing their hair as they floated through the air. They swarmed from a lower floor as they sparkled purple, trails of it flowing down from their long, luscious manes.

"What are those hideous things?" Harley spat.

"Men, Harley," I said, and she scowled at me.

"Gross.”

“You know, Ken—" Penny started, and I held up a hand. The parties were breaking off into their own groups, not too distant that they couldn’t come to each other's aid, but far enough that we could all farm effectively.

"Oh, she knows. Everyone get ready," I said, squaring up my stance as more and more of the ghosts appeared, a veritable flood charging toward us. Des launched a green flaming meteor into the group, and it exploded, catching many of them alight with green fire just as the first tanks of our class clashed into the swarm.

It only took a moment before we learned one of their abilities. They opened their mouths in unison and let out sonic screams that rippled through the air, ripping apart anyone caught between them. It was a fairly powerful blast, rocketing Orkai and classmates alike aside in equal measure.

"Whoa," Des said in surprise, glancing back at me.

"We'll be just fine," I reassured her. "That was just a surprise. Now that we know what they can do, there won't be a problem."

But I meant the words. And sure enough, a few seconds later the tanks got back on their feet. And when the next scream came from the ghosts, they braced against the shockwave and rode it out, barely moving at all.

With that issue fixed, I prepared myself for whatever would come next. While the tanks blocked the second wave, dozens upon dozens more of the ghosts appeared from the level below.

"Can we go in on the left flank?" Penny said, taking charge of some of the tactics. As the tank, the position made sense as she determined her next moves.

"Behind you, Penny. Let’s thin these out so you can shift positions," I said, coming in hot on her heels.

Penny didn't so much as glance over her shoulder, charging forward as though she'd expected me to follow her the whole time. She clashed with one of the ghosts hard enough to rock the surrounding area, but that didn't matter for what I needed to do next.

I slipped in behind her, and my blades got to quick work. Lightning rippled down my blade as I hacked at the ghost; the blade itself didn't seem to deal nearly as much damage as the lightning coming off it, but still, my blades wove back and forth, each swing carving another chunk of life away.

Their transparent bodies wavered and rippled before tearing like cloth, leaving them more ragged than when the fight started. It made it obvious which ones had already taken damage, and my blades focused down on those, each spark of lightning weakening them further. But with my focus locked on them, the ghosts began to shift their attention to me, sending shockwaves in my direction.

I used [Shadow Ambush] to dodge and appear next to Penny to pull them back to her.

Penny, beside me, was having a far easier time. Her ice wrapped around the ghosts, dragging them down and binding them to the ground. I watched with interest, avoiding those she'd already dropped and instead moving to the side to drag monsters through that space while she continued to collect more and more frozen ghosts. The two of us quickly reached a quick, unspoken understanding.

Those frozen on the ground suddenly began to decay as Des's curses ripped through the area, one after another. Penny winked at me as I swung past her, dragging more ghosts into the frozen field she was making. Felin caught on quickly enough, too, creating a half-circle of ice walls that Penny and I could use to trap and push more ghosts into a small, isolated area.

There between Penny and Felin they were frozen to the ground entirely or slowed to a crawl.

Des was hard at work spamming afflictions and, occasionally, sending a shower of green fire to light them up. Meanwhile, even with [Liminal Speed] burning, my attacks didn't seem as effective as I would have liked, but spraying [Dark Blades] with a damage-over-time effect into the mass worked well enough. 

Our group quickly had others mimicking our approach, trying to gather up as many as they could for crowd control and work them down. After all, there were endless waves of these monsters flooding the area.