DD 304 Ch 14 (Patreon)

I settled in, making camp, while Misha watched us closely. The Whalewryn was doing her best to be helpful, while actually having no idea what to do. So she was mimicking my every step carefully.

"We could just go back, you know," Felin stated quickly, staring down at her bedroll with a scowl as if it had offended her.

"And risk Crimson's wrath?" I smiled right back. "I don't think so.”

“But then we'd have a warm, fluffy couch, covered in wonderful scents." Felin kicked at the bedroll to unfurl it. Unlike mine that was a slick plastic something that was supposed to be for all climates, hers was made of fur and leather.

Misha looked between the two of us. "Yeah, that does sound incredible, Felin," she said, clearly feeling required to agree with her.

"I knew I liked you.” Felin grinned. “So what about it, Ken? Head back?"

"Sorry, Felin, you know as well as I do that we aren't going back. Besides, it's been a while since we've had time alone to bond," I offered. Camping in the dungeon was part of the experience, it was the essence of being an adventurer.

Those words caused Felin's ears to perk up as her tail curled playfully around her.

"On second thought, you're right, Ken." She did a full one-eighty on her earlier feelings.

"What?" I said, turning to her, blinking, then turning back to Misha. "I don't know if I heard right. I think something might be wrong with my ears."

"Don't make me say it again," Felin warned.

"Say what again?" I teased, sticking a finger in an pretending to pull out some wax.

"That you were right." Felin answered immediately before she practically choked on her tongue. "Damn it," she cursed under her breath.

I only laughed at her struggle a polite amount. "I promise it won't be bad at all, Felin. Besides, you want this almost as much as I do."

"You have no proof of that," she said quickly.

I looked at her tail flitting back and forth excitedly. "Yeah, darn, absolutely zero proof. If only there was some way to ensure that a Nekorian favored me. Perhaps we should camp out at night and see if she crawls into bed."

"Fat chance," Felin said. "You're going to be the one crawling into my bed and begging for a tail job." She stabbed her finger into my chest.

I shrugged. "Okay."

She grinned like a loon, as if she'd won.

"But why do you set up all of this?" Misha asked, pointing around at our work. I’d been stringing cans filled with washers up. The simplest solutions rarely ever malfunctioned and that was critical in the dungeon.

"Because we don't want anyone to sneak up on us while we're sleeping." I told her.

"We just killed them," Misha said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I mean, yeah. But it's about making sure we get a warning when they ambush us."

"Oh," Misha nodded sagely. "I suppose I didn't have to worry too much about that when there's a big scary Whalewryn out there."

"Something like that," I offered, remembering that people were very kind to Whalewryns. Though they traveled in small pods, most didn’t make trouble for them because the strongest adventurer in the dungeon was a Whalewryn.

That make me wonder, if the succubus queen had such skills to increase her stats like me, just how had this Whalewryn trained?

"Our ancestor would simply walk into a place like Star City and kill half of the occupants. He's known for having quite the temper." She said as if it wasn’t a big deal.

I looked at her funny. "That goes a little beyond temper, if you ask me. But then again, I'm not a Whalewryn."

"It helps that our people are known as quite peaceful otherwise," she added.

"Yes, peaceful," I chuckled. "That's what we call people who go on murderous rampages."

"It's not like it's a constant thing," Misha said. "Just a few times is really all it took."

I shook my head. A few times is plenty to be considered a mass murderer, a long way from peaceful. "It's fine. I won't treat you any differently, as long as you don't ever sic this terrifying ancestor of yours on me."

"I would never," Misha said quickly, sounding insulted that it had even been spoken of as a possibility.

"Okay. Well, now that we've got some old-fashioned traps set, we can set up our tent," I said.

"Oh, a tent," Misha said. "Des has told me all about these." Her eyes practically glowed, and I wondered what nonsense Des had filled her head with about tents. Though, to be fair to Des, it seemed Misha had come with plenty of nonsense built in already.

"Okay, well, we're going to sleep," I said slowly, watching her reaction.

"Beds are for sleeping," Misha said, sounding like I had just taken something precious from her.

"Usually. Unless you're Des. And even then, we do need to sleep. It can't all be fun and games." I told her.

"We could play some games," Misha asked, her eyes sparkling with hope.

"Look, Misha," I paused. "I'm not stupid. I understand what you want. However, you have to understand that because of my abilities, and out of respect to my other women, it's not something to take casually."

Misha bit her lip and nodded. "I understand." I held her gaze for a long moment, unsure if she truly did, but when she didn't push any further, I left it alone.

"It's just that being here with the three of us is dangerously close to some of my goals." She told me.

"I understand. But if we can't pursue those goals together, then I don't think they're right for either of us." I told her.

My words seemed to cause her a great deal of anxiety, judging by how much she began fidgeting. "I'll behave tonight. If we're putting up traps, then I assume someone also has to stand watch?" she asked.

"Preferably," I agreed. She nodded.

"Go rest in your tent then. I'll stay awake for the first watch."

I glanced at her, wondering if she was really going to be okay, only for Felin to steal my attention. "Over here," the Nekorian grinned, and hooked a thumb at me.

"Be fair to Misha," I warned her.

Felin stuck her tongue out. "No way. Trust me, if the roles were reversed, she would definitely want me to do this."

“To sleep?" I tried.

"Well, you know… a kitty's got to get her cream, otherwise she won't stay well." Felin’s tail flicked back and forth.

"Is that how it works?" I asked, teasingly.

"It is," she insisted. "Just ask anyone. Kittens need their cream, especially when the cream comes with a stat boost." She licked her lips and let out a playful growl before she suddenly froze, her ears twisting to the side. "Oh, poor Whalewryn," Felin said.

I tilted my head toward her in question. She was hearing something I couldn’t.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure she has plenty of practice," Felin let out a needy growl.

I couldn't help but squint at her before she was on me, and I grabbed her by the hips. "Since you're being so good, why don't you tell me what stat you want?"

Felin paused as if considering it, and the pause went on a touch longer than I expected. I waited, lifting a brow in question when it continued to drag.

"Well, you probably want agility," she said, putting a finger on my chest. "And while agility isn't bad, really, I'm too rounded, and I should probably shoot for mana, or magic."

"Your wish is my command," I said, and pushed her down onto the bedroll.

"I like that," Felin said quickly.

"I thought you might," I said, as her tail curled around my thigh.

***

The next several days I continued through the dungeon with Felin and Misha, keeping much the same pace and learning to travel even better together. The three of us were coming to a rather quick understanding of each other's capabilities. Felin and Misha were working increasingly well together, and Misha had started to create a small list of abilities she was going to look for when we got back. It seemed all of this experience with the two of us was giving her better guidance on how to work within the tank, DPS and support party system we normally fought in.

My CID chimed before I could admire our improvement any longer.

"What's that?" Felin asked, her head snapping in my direction as she came to a skidding stop beside me.

"Oh, I'm gonna need to head back and see the Orkai," I said, only for her to scowl at me.

"Wait, wait? We didn't even go back to sleep on a nice cushy couch, but you're gonna go back to see an old, wrinkly man?" The Nekorian pulled at her white hair.

I stared at her for a long moment. "Yeah, pretty much." She was clearly hamming this up, probably to angle for a portal back tonight.

She clutched at her chest and let out a ragged gasp of pain. "This is what you have to watch out for," she told Misha. I got the distinct feeling she enjoyed being the more knowledgeable one, at least in this situation.

Misha nodded along. "But is it really so wrong?" she asked.

"Yes. Wrong, terribly wrong. He should portal back so that his lovely Nekorian woman can get much-needed beauty sleep, not to go talk to a wrinkly old green man."

That ‘wrinkly old green man’ was a judge and one of the highest authorities of a race well established within the dungeon. Her priorities were completely skewed.

Misha however, seemed to think about that for a second before coming to the determination that she agreed. “You’re right sister.”

"Bad kitty, stop corrupting her," I said, and wagged a finger. "Felin, I have to keep my promises, which is why I am going back. And then we're coming right back here to keep chasing after the trial for Harley." I paused and glanced at Misha. "You know, if you want, we can definitely find one for you too."

"Thank you, but I wouldn't dare ask for anything that precious," she said, holding her hands out in front of her, waving me off as if it might keep my gratitude away.

"You would owe us nothing for it," I said plainly, to which she blushed.

"I'll think about it," she said, though it came out more like a question than an answer.

"Sure. And again, zero pressure. Not even from this one," I said, stabbing a finger at Felin, who seemed aghast.

"I would never," she said. I lowered my gaze and stared at her. "Well, never is a strong word," she slowly corrected, and I glared at her further. "I wouldn't be mean about it.” She clarified even further.

Misha laughed and broke the standoff between us. "It's all right, Felin. Trial abilities are quite valuable. You should help Ken get something valuable in return."

"See? She agrees," Felin said, before frowning, as if Misha agreeing had somehow taken the fun out of the argument.

"Either way," I said, while both of them seemed caught up in their own thoughts, "we'll continue this later." I ripped open a portal back to Star City.

Both of them came back to attention as the portal rippled. 

"Right, stinky old men," Felin scowled.

"Please remember to be polite, Felin. You cannot call them that to their face." I reminded her, hoping her words hadn’t carried through the portal.

The Nekorian started to baulk before she grinned. "You know, I could act like that's actually what you call them."

I patiently stared her down. "If you think that's best," I said slowly, and she lost the mischief in her eyes.

"Dammit, why are you so good at that?" She wrung her tail with her hands.

"Because I spent so much time with Crimson and Des," I smirked at her. "With companions like that, one has to learn to adapt."

"It's wonderful to see that you all make each other grow," Misha stated, and I almost did a double take, wondering if she was being sarcastic. She was not.

I did not want to keep the portal lingering open much longer, so I stepped through it to Star City, where the arbiters would be.

Immediately, the receptionist motioned for me to head on back. "I was informed to let you back as soon as your portal appeared," she said, which gave me at least a little smug satisfaction that I was recognized and quickly prioritized.

"Thank you." I did a quick bow and headed through the door, only to find the old judge meeting me, glancing at the other two with a warm smile.

"You don't normally bring guests," he said, taking them both in. "A Whalewryn and a Nekorian." He paused a moment in thought. "You do keep surprising me. It's so rare to see a varied party. The new elves too. No Orkai though?" he asked me, though it didn't seem there was a particularly correct answer. I never quite liked feeling like it was a quiz.

"The Orkai seem to be well situated in their own groups," I said, by way of excuse.

"That makes sense, that makes sense," the old judge muttered under his breath. "Regardless, you're not here to humor an old man. I suppose I ought to get your tasks done for the day, if you wouldn't mind."

I gestured for him to lead, and of course the old Orkai had no issue with that, walking along with his hands behind his back, holding it like it bothered him. Though I somehow doubted it. The man's stats had to be absolutely through the roof; I doubted even old age would slow him down.

"Since you've last been here, we've decided to get some of our analysts involved." He told me, making me perk up and want to know more. The Orkai were crazy advanced, his analysts could probably answer many questions for himself and all of humanity.

"Analysts?" I asked.

"Yes, of course. There are always plenty of ways to look at information. I'm not so naive as to think my eyes can provide all of the insights that might otherwise be gleaned by those trained to do so." He stated.

It made sense; I just genuinely didn't expect that level of humility from the Orkai. Those on top often were deluded into thinking they were better at everything.

"When situations go well, they go well. When they don't, it's best to get those with the kind of insight that would be far more helpful involved. I for one am certain they would improve the outcome of many conversations. But I digress," he said, and gestured into his room, where two Orkai sat with their gaze stuck in the middle distance, no doubt working through their implants on some analysis I couldn't see.

It was still kind of comical to see two jacked Orkai nerds. Rarely were there Orkai that weren’t absolutely shredded, though both of these gave off classic nerd energy. I realized as I walked around to the desk that both of them were women.

"If you would, please," the judge gestured at a map he brought up, and the two analysts looked up from their task, watching closely enough that it actually made me a little nervous.

"The ones we have been tracking are right here, and here." I pointed to two different sections of the map, using my ability.

One of the analysts raised a hand. "And yesterday… where were they?" she asked. It was a different question than I normally answered, but I supposed it was still easy enough. I pointed out two different spots after using [Eyes of Wisdom].

"And thirteen days ago?" she asked.

I invoked [Eyes of Wisdom] and found yet another spot to point to on the map.

“Now where was I yesterday?” One of them asked.

I pointed to another spot as the went off topic for a minute and asked me a number of odd questions, most likely testing [Eyes of Wisdom].

The two analysts conversed quietly amongst themselves before focusing back on us.

"We believe we have some potential understanding," one of the analysts spoke. "Now that we have the requisite evidence before us, may we ask more pointed questions?" Both analysts turned to the judge, who shrugged.

"I think you're supposed to ask him, not me," the judge said pointedly, and they looked almost uncomfortable with his answer but turned to me nonetheless.

"Do you know of any potential limitations on your ability?" one of them asked.

I shook my head. "It's never really led me astray. But I'm sure the two of you could stress-test it far better than I could."

They conversed amongst themselves again for a second. "You are likely right," one of them said, and I flinched ever so slightly. "I don't mean to be rude, but abilities like these are often quite strange in their limitations. It would most likely be best for us to simply operate on our current understanding that you lack limitations. And if limitations do appear in the future, we'll account for them. So, adventurer Ken, can you identify if there was anything else present at these locations?"

I glanced at the map. "Was there anything else present?" I said aloud, as my eyes glowed blue and dots speckled the area we had been observing. "There's something," I said, "but we'd literally have to go one by one, asking various iterations, to get an exact answer as to what else was present."

Both analysts blinked at me as if they'd already considered that and hadn't considered it a problem.

"Oh," I said, feeling momentarily stupid for even suggesting there was one.

"Please, have a seat," one of them gestured. Felin and Misha had already found seats of their own, along with the Orkai judge, who was peeling some sort of purple fruit and talking to them comfortably.

"Well, if you're going to be so hospitable," I said, and settled in for what I was certain was going to be a very long afternoon. These two felt like the type to be thorough and not understand simple limitations like human boredom.