FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 45

The idyllic glade was warmed pleasantly by the summer sun, golden light bathing the air and highlighting the multitude of colourful flowers peeking from between the blades of grass. Azure winged butterflies flitted from flower to flower.

A wobbly clawed foot lifted into the air and slowly, carefully, came back down.

Red looked down at his foot in amazement. "I- I did it!"

The sheep girl holding his clawed hand up in the air looked down kindly at the shaky legged Kobold who was on the verge of collapse for what was perhaps the twelfth time.

"Okay, now you have to take more than one step you know. I don't think stepping only one foot forward is going to be very useful."

The Kobold gave her a frightened look, the very idea of taking another step! Madness! But then he grit his teeth, leaned forward and lifted his other foot. His foot slowly sailed through the air before coming down with a carefully placed step. Red let out a gasp of delight. Then he made the mistake of paying attention to the sky once again, that endless blue void framed by ten-mile tall clouds that slowly sailed through the air like unimaginably vast galleons.

He squeaked and his legs turned to jelly. Lyra grunted as she caught the suddenly floppy limbed Kobold.

"Hah, he's just a little scaredy lizard, he can't do anything!"

Lyra turned and glared at Opal. Only the Goblin's face was visible, tucked below Rain's arm where he sat cross legged, her entire body wrapped in wolf with only her head sticking out.

"Oh you're one to talk, you can't even leave Rain's lap!"

"Yes I can, I totally can!"

Lyra squinted at the Goblin. "I don't believe you. Goblins are all cowards."

Opal gasped. "No they're not!"

Lyra gestured at the ground. "Well, care to prove otherwise?"

Opal eyed the grass, then her eyes slowly shifted upward to the sky. She whimpered and pulled back into Rain so that only her amber eyes were visible between Rain's black fur.

"That's what I thought. Goblins are known as dungeon rats for a reason, they scamper off and hide whenever there is even the slightest hint of danger. It's no wonder Half-goblins have such an easy time dominating you."

Opal's eyebrows drew together and her eyes narrowed as she spoke, the only part visible of her amongst the fur. The Goblin became increasingly agitated toward the end until with a yell she burst from Rain's fur to stand on the ground and point an accusing finger at the sheep girl.

"You don't know anything! Gobbos are one of the top tier monsters of the dungeon, we just get unlucky! We're- we're really strong!" said Opal, her voice quavering a little.

Lyra put a hand on her hip. "Unless you intend to walk around up here the entire time wearing a blindfold you are going to have to take your hand off your eyes. Yes, no, now your eyes are closed. Open them."

"I... I can do that."

She stood there awkwardly, eyes still closed.

"Come on little Goblin, going to be a little scaredy cat forever?"

"You're afraid of everything! Shut up!"

"Well? I'm waiting."

Opal scowled and made a rude gesture at Lyra. After a moment she cracked an eyelid, then slowly opened her eyes. An expression of triumph crossed her face. Then she looked up. Her knees buckled and her breath hitched. With a cry she turned and dived back into Rain's arms, curling up in his lap and returning back to where she was with just her eyes visible. She glared daggers at Lyra who had a hand over her mouth trying not to laugh.

As the sun crawled across the sky Red and Opal gradually began to get used to the outside world and the blue infinity above, Opal through pure outrage at Lyra's increasingly pointed taunting and teasing.

By the time the sun was setting Red was frolicking in the grass chasing butterflies while Lyra watched from the shade of the tree. Opal was standing with her hands on her hip, glaring at the sky, daring it to scare her anymore.

A large paw wrapped around the Goblin's stomach and drew her close. She gasped as Rain put his head next to hers.

"I knew you would conquer it."

"Was nothing to conquer, I was fine from the start, I just liked how comfy your lap was is all."

"I do have a very comfy lap, but still, I'm glad you are okay now."

He squeezed her and she leaned her head into his.

It was starting to get dark out by this point and Rain had Opal put out the two tents, the old Goblin tent which he gave to Lyra, and the newer undead leveler's tent. He crawled inside with difficulty, being so much larger that even the new larger leveler's tent was a poor fit and his legs were left sticking outside the tent flap. After a moment Opal crawled in too. There wasn't anywhere for her to lay as he took up the whole interior so after a moment she decided to simply lie on top of Rain.

He drifted off into a heavy sleep to the faint sound of Opal breathing into his chest, her small hands curled in his fur.

Rain slowly came back to consciousness as a soft dragging sound met his ears, and then a moment later, what sounded like muffled shouting. The worrying sounds hooked him awake and he opened his eyes. What was going on? It took him a moment to realise that the weight of Opal was missing, she wasn't in the tent. Increasingly concerned he sat up, having to squeeze down due to the tent being too small, and leaned toward the tent flap. With one claw he pulled it aside and peeked out.

Opal was there, with her back to him. She was dragging something across the grass, something larger than her, something struggling. After a moment of heaving and pulling at the thing she turned around and nearly jumped out of her skin seeing Rain with his muzzle sticking from the tent, his yellow eyes faintly glowing in the dark.

"Oh! Gods you startled me!" said Opal, wiping sweat from her brow. "This is perfect though, you can eat her right now!"

Rain eyed the Goblin and then peered around her to see Lyra completely buck naked and tied up in an incredibly compromising position, her arms tied behind her back, her shins tied tight to her thighs and her legs spread obscenely, her pussy exposed to the air. The sheep girl's large breasts wobbled dangerously as her chest rose and fell in terror. Rain found the source for the muffled shouting, Opal had stuffed a few rolled up socks in her mouth and Lyra was making panicked bleating noises around them.

Lyra gave him a fearful look, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

He looked back at Opal questioningly.

"It's simple isn't it, we don't need her anymore, we got out of the dungeon so we don't need invisibility, we can do without her and so now you can eat her and grow bigger!"

Rain raised an eyebrow but shifted forward pulling the tent back around him until he was outside it. He reached forward with one huge paw and grabbed hold of the rope wrapped around Lyra's leg. He roughly dragged her across the grass and crawled over her, dominating her with his size.

Lyra shook her head in a blind panic but Rain couldn't be stopped, he ran his paw pads over her thick thigh and up her stomach then opened his mouth and tongue bathed her quivering belly. Lyra squealed at the sensation, her struggling becoming more frantic and desperate. Rain didn't stop there, he opened his mouth, saliva stretching between his teeth and placed his maw over her hip, his teeth dimpling her skin.

The sheep girl's eyes rolled up in fear and the sound of liquid hitting the grass could be heard as she openly pissed herself in the incredibly compromised and obscene position she was in.

After half a minute of squeaking and trembling and the continual loud splatter of fluid hitting the ground Lyra finished.

Rain eyed her from where his teeth were touching her skin, then he rolled his eyes and removed his jaws.

"I'm not going to eat you, I will never eat you Lyra. I said I would protect you and I will, but you need to get over this fear thing."

"What?!" shouted Opal. "What do you mean you won't ever eat her!? She's got to be eaten!"

"No. Not happening."

Opal balled her hands into fists.

"This! This isn't fair! It's because of what you used to be, isn't it? You're giving her mercy like you wouldn't to a monster because you used to be Human, a leveler!"

Rain watched as Lyra suddenly froze up, her eyes going round. She struggled for a moment and then with great difficulty she managed to spit out the socks in her mouth.

Breathing hard, her lips parted, she glared at Rain.

"What the fuck does she mean you used to be Human?!?!"

Chapter 46

"What the fuck does she mean you used to be Human?!?!"

Rain scratched his jaw and shrugged, looking at the sheep girl coolly. "...I died at the bottom of the dungeon, when I woke I looked like this, a smaller version anyway. It... wasn't a kind death, I was killed by levelers... I used to be a Human and now I am a monster, through and through." A sense of long brewing acceptance filled Rain that he hadn't known he had been holding onto. He really was a monster now, it had been hard to truly accept that after a lifetime of being indoctrinated into fearing monsters.

"My gods, h-how?! Wait, wait, back then, when you somehow knew about family dynasties keeping the secrets of Classes, and- oh! You didn't react anything like Red or Opal when we first came above ground, you've been outside of the dungeon before! You were a leveler!"

"Yes."

"But- but how is this possible!"

"I don't know. Where I died may have something to do with it, I died on a grave left undisturbed for... a long time."

Lyra stared at him and then blinked. This, this changed things. The monster in front of her wasn't just a monster, he was a monster with the additional experience and knowledge of being a leveler. She didn't know whether that made Rain more comfortable to be near or ten times more terrifying.

"I don't understand this, this isn't supposed to happen, levelers can't become monsters. That just isn't done!"

Rain reached out and grabbed her hips and the sheep girl froze up in fear. He picked her up and pulled her into his lap with her back facing toward him.

"Wh-what are you doing!" wailed the sheep girl as her body began trembling out of control.

Rain remained silent and ran a paw pad down her arm to where her wrists were bound in rope. Opal had gone a little overboard with the amount of rope used and she was tied several times over. He carefully used his claws to tug and tear apart the rope until she was freed.

Lyra snatched her hands away from him and rubbed at her wrists. She froze up again as Rain's arms wrapped around her and he began plucking at the ropes tying her legs up.

"Y-you don't have to do this I can take them off!" she whimpered as he made progress.

"It's fine, it's easier this way."

Lyra made little helpless noises as his claws pulled at the knots, pulling and pushing her roughly in his lap. She couldn't help it, she reached out her hands to steady herself against his arms before she realised what she was doing.

Soon enough Rain was done and Lyra was able to move her legs properly once more. She sighed in relief, stretching out her legs as far as she could in front of her, her hooves pointed outward, her legs crossing and uncrossing. The feeling of being free was wonderful.

It suddenly occurred to her that she was completely stark naked and sitting in a male monster's lap while stretching her legs, her rear pressed up against his crotch, her hands resting on his forearms.

This, this was really not good! She squealed and jumped to her feet, her large chest bouncing up and down as she desperately tried to cover her nipples and privates with her hand and arm. She gave Rain one pink cheeked scandalised look before she dashed away and dived into her tent.

Opal watched her go, her arms crossed.

"I bet she would have been delicious and made you grow really big. Some nice tasty mutton walking around on two legs. Hmph!"

Rain gave her the side eye. "You make my appetite look mild sometimes you know. I'm not going to eat her, the least of which reason is because I want to go into Lynthia, the town. You know I want revenge on a certain group of levelers, I don't think all of them will have joined the Inquisitor in the dungeon, in fact, I'm certain some of them will have remained in town." Rain lifted his paw up in front of him and curled it into a fist. "This might be the perfect opportunity to get them, Lyra's power will be essential for that."

"Stillashittypower," muttered Opal, but it was clear she was reluctantly coming around.

Rain watched as the huge many coloured moon dipped below the horizon and the sun began to rise sending golden rays across the glade, lighting up the grass and creating a faint mist as the night dew evaporated. Rain had Opal pack away their tent. Eventually, Lyra emerged from hers, this time fully clothed, although a faint rosy blush remained on her cheeks.

Rain retrieved Red from where he was tied to the tree they had emerged from, curled up just inside the cave entrance. They put both the packs back onto the Kobold and before long they were leaving the glade and passing into the forest proper. The light became dappled as they passed beneath the canopy, leafy shadows casting a pleasing patina across everything.

Rain eased his pace so the others didn't have to rush to keep up with him and watched as Opal stared around in curiosity, occasionally darting aside to inspect a weird bug or tree or the way moss grew across a boulder, her natural instincts as a scout showing.

Red was more the sort to just wander around slack jawed, occasionally tilting his head to listen to bird song in the treetops.

A few hours into this and Opal, who was slightly ahead of the group, paused and furrowed her brow, staring into the distance through the gaps in the trees.

Rain came up behind the peering Goblin. "What is it?"

"There's something there that isn't very foresty. I think it's a building."

Rain became much more alert as he paid attention to her words. He focused on where she was pointing and yes, he could see a building with his sharp eyes.

"A building out here? Away from the protection of a town or city's walls?" said Lyra coming to a stop beside them.

"It's probably abandoned."

"We should go look, there might be a leveler to eat in there!" said Opal, suddenly dashing forward.

"Er, you should probably stop her, just in case..."

Rain followed after the Goblin as they neared the building which turned out to be an old wooden cabin built from heavy planks and wooden shingles and covered in thick moss.

Opal stepped up onto the decking and peered through the window inside.

"It's empty?"

"No," said Opal, "I can see an old Human man inside. Might be a bit chewy, but still, breakfast time!"

"H-hey hold on, you can't just eat a random old man in the woods!" said Lyra. "That's wrong!"

Opal glared at the sheep girl. "Why? He's old anyway, might as well use him for something useful before he keels over dead. Plus he's a leveler, that means he is a terrible person."

"Wha- how can you say that?"

"Duh, all levelers are terrible, you kill monsters for fun."

Lyra stared at the Goblin. "That's, that's! No! we don't! We- we-!"

"Rain forget her, let's eat this old bastard, I bet you're really really hungry, you barely ate anything yesterday, only a dozen boars."

Rain's stomach snarled in reply. She was correct of course, he was very hungry. This wouldn't be so bad, would it? No one would miss this old man living out in the middle of nowhere in the woods right?"

"No, don't do it, don't eat him! He's just a nice old lonely man in the woods probably!"

"Yes, eat him! Devour him all and take everything to grow bigger and bigger and bigger!"

Rain had the strangest feeling an angel and a demon were sitting on his shoulders.

"I-" began Rain.

"Give me a damned moment you silly bastards, my old bones ain't gonna jump up lickety split to answer the door like that," came a voice from inside.

"Oh no," said Lyra as the sound of steps neared the door. The click clack of a latch being thrown made the sheep girl jump forward in front of Rain and Opal. She grabbed the door handle as it began to open and held it, stopping it from going further. She stood in the gap hiding the monsters behind her as an old face appeared. Weary and bleary eyes behind a pair of spectacles looked up at her, the spectacles were perched on a large slightly reddened nose below a bald head.

The hunchback old man blinked. "Yes? What can I do for you lass?"

"Uhm! Uhm! I got lost in the woods! Please let me in for a moment!"

"Oh? Have you been wandering all night? My my, that's not good, please come inside, I'll make you some tea."

"Y-yes! That! P-Please!"

She shuffled through the door awkwardly, trying to keep it as closed as possible so that the old man didn't see the three monsters standing on his porch. She got inside, snatching a glance of Opal with her arms crossed before the door shut behind her.

Inside the cabin wasn't very impressive, the old man was either an extreme minimalist or very very poor.

He bent over a stove and began fiddling with a flint and steel until with a small flash a fire started. He put a kettle on top of the stove.

As he was doing that Opal appeared at the window and pressed her face against it, sticking her tongue out and licking the glass and squishing her nose flat. Lyra shook her head frantically at the Goblin. Opal flatly ignored her. Just before the old man turned around she stepped in front of the window, hiding the Goblin with her body.

"Wha-what causes you to live out here in the woods sir?"

"Oh the usual leveler backbiting and drama. It's best I don't bore you with it lass. Suffice to say I get by just about, although it's been tough out here at times on my rickety old bones. But what about yourself? A young leveler like you, out here with no visible weapon? You must be a support Class if I'm not mistaken? How you came to be alone though I would like to know."

"Uh. I got separated from the band of levelers I was with, a uhm... forest... bear surprised us."

"Tsk tsk. The monsters around here have been getting worse. Fortunately not as bad as dungeon monsters but still, you can never be too careful eh?"

"Er, right, yes."

"Mind some dungeon monsters make surface monsters look weak. Goblins, for instance, are like floppy little jellies compared to a forest bear, why I remember slaughtering the little buggers by the dozen-"

The front door was suddenly booted open, a furious Opal standing in the frame.

"FUCK YOU GOBBOS ARE AWESOME!"

The kettle began to whistle behind the old man as he stared bug eyed at the sudden appearance of an angry Goblin in his cabin.

Chapter 47

Opal stood in the door glaring daggers at the old man, no, she was angry enough that these weren't daggers being glared but full on swords.

Rain ducked down behind Opal, having to crouch down a foot or so to fit his head beneath the door frame, filling it entirely with his body.

"What in the blue blazes! M-monsters! Run lass run! Save yourself!"

"Hold on now! Wait!" said Lyra, not liking the way the situation was escalating.

"Never! This leveler killed loads of Gobbos and thinks Gobbos suck! You heard him!"

"That's- you can't just kill him!"

Rain took a step into the cabin, having to duck down his head as he was too tall for the ceiling, his ears squashed up against it and the planks beneath his feet groaned alarmingly under his weight.

Lyra stepped in between Opal and Rain and the old man and spread her arms.

"You can't have him!"

"Lass, I appreciate it but you can't do this, don't sacrifice yourself for me."

The old man suddenly cricked his neck. Lyra blinked at the sound and turned her head. Behind her the old man was limbering up, cracking his knuckles and stretching his limbs.

"H-hey, you can't be thinking of fighting? You'll die! Please just run away!"

The old man squinted at her. "I don't know what's going on here lass but I see dungeon monsters and it gets me blood up."

"B-but you're just a frail old man!"

The old man suddenly slid his feet apart and breathed in, centering his core. He curled his arms and tensed them. Muscle exploded up from his hands, pounds and pounds of heavy defined musculature rolling up over his anatomy, his body transforming, swelling outward as his back straightened and his chest broadened, his pecs ballooning as his shirt tore open.

Lyra could only watch with rounded eyes and eyebrows raised high enough that they looked like they would detach from her head and float away. The frail old man rapidly transformed into a hulking old man, his bald head perched atop a six-foot body that would be the envy of bodybuilders anywhere.

Rain reached out a paw to grab the startled Lyra and pull her out of danger when the old man snapped a hand forward shoving Lyra aside in the same motion his other bulging arm rocketing forward with his step to meteor up into Rain's gut.

Rain had only a moment to process what was happening and how hard he had just been hit before he was launched off his feet and thrown through the wall of the building, planks disintegrating around his body as he blew through the wood and was sent tumbling and rolling across the forest floor.

Lyra stared at the old man slack jawed.

"You, you aren't an old man?"

"Course I am lass, I am old as oak trees, just got a few leveler tricks left in me still. Ya know how it is eh?" he grinned beneath his white beard.

"Rain!" cried out Opal staring at the massive hole in the wall Rain had disappeared through. She turned on the old man, her fists balled.

"What have you done! You ancient fuck!" Opal drew her rapier and cutlass, raised them into the air and charged the old man.

"Ah, this reminds me of the old days, squashing and bursting Goblins, good times. Give me a sec lass just lemme deal with this one."

"DIE!" cried Opal swinging her blades down. The metal struck home, landing on the old man's outstretched arm. Unfortunately it did next to nothing, only leaving behind a pair of slight scratches before the blades slid off, Opal simply lacked the strength to really harm his Skill reinforced body. A few thin lines of blood ran down the old man's arm.

"Oh, you're a feisty one for a Goblin, not even evolved too? Come 'ere, let me pop you."

The old man reached out with one large hand toward the Goblin who had suddenly gone pale and was backing away. Before his grasping hand could latch onto her head however the wall exploded and a huge black mass blasted paws first into the cabin setting the structure creaking and rocking like it was going to collapse. The old man was spear tackled and went flying into the hot stove behind him, the kettle crushing beneath his back.

He hissed in pain as hot water splashed up his back. Before he could recover however a massive paw wrapped around his neck and slammed him against the wall causing the entire cabin to shudder.

"Just for threatening her I'm going to make this a screaming death for you leveler." Rain drew back his lips and snarled, teeth flashing, saliva dripping from his lips.

"Fuck you!" snarled back the old man from beneath Rain's paw. "Monster filth like you should be enslaved or exterminated or placed in experience farms to die and die and die."

Lyra jumped up beside them and spread her arms, crossed them, then spread them again.

"TIME OUT!"

Rain and the old man paused and looked at Lyra. She quailed under their gaze for a moment before steadying herself.

"Listen, this is bad, you can't kill each other!"

"You are telling me what to do? You?" said Rain, his eyes narrowing at the sheep girl. Her legs began violently shaking under his yellow eyed gaze.

"N-no, b-but there has to be a better way!"

"Never! Blood and thunder, I'll go out killing monsters like a true warrior!"

"There is no better way. You know how it is as a leveler Lyra, we both do."

"I don't! Just, just-" Lyra looked around desperately, for anything to stop what was about to happen. Her eyes came to rest on Red who was carefully picking his way through the debris, struggling a little with the heavy packs he was carrying... wait...

She turned back to the old man. "What do you do out here! Tell me truly! Please! It matters!"

The old man watched her in silence for a moment. "I quit the leveling rat race because my Class is flawed, broken. I'm a herder."

Lyra snapped her fingers together. "That's it!"

"Nothing is it sheepy, we're gonna kill the leveler and then we're going to eat him... and then his herd," said Opal.

"He's not going to tell us where his herd is!"

"Yeah so?"

"Don't you want more food for Rain, to grow him bigger?"

Opal paused.

The old man suddenly spoke up. "Dunno what you're thinking lass but this monster ain't getting anywhere near my birds, I'll take the location of their pen to my grave."

Lyra suddenly flashed him a strangely mercantile grin and shoved her hand into one of the packs on Red's back. She pulled out a fist full of gold coins and then forced them into the old man's hands. Red's eyes bulged out of his head at this transaction, why were they giving away his-, uh, the group's coin?!

Rain looked down at the gold in the old man's hands unsure where this was going. He slowly removed his paw from where he pinned the old man against the wall.

"Lass, I ain't being bought by some fucking monsters."

Lyra shoved another two fistfuls of gold into his hands and the old man's eyes widened slightly.

"I- I'm not,- this, this is more than about money-"

Another two fistfuls of gold were pushed into his hands, much spilling onto the floor. Red was vibrating on the spot by this point looking like he might explode if he didn't say something.

The old man was starting to wilt under the weight of so much gold.

"This- this isn't!"

Another two fistfuls of gold and a fat ruby.

"Nooo You can't! My gods why do you have so much of this!?"

A diamond necklace was wrapped around his wrist along with more gold as the old man slowly slumped downward unable to look away from the increasingly large amount of treasure being thrown at him.

He was panting by this point, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

"H-how is there so much?! Godsdammit! I give! I give! Okay you win!"

"But that's the gold-!" Red slapped a pair of claws over his muzzle forcefully shutting his own mouth. He couldn't look away from all the treasure in the old man's lap however.

Lyra nodded her head confidently.

"Business is business! One transaction please! Your herd for all this gold and the requirement you leave the area immediately and don't go to the local town."

The old man sighed. "This is more money than I've seen in my entire life several times over lass. Is this really okay?"

"Your herd and your silence is what we want. You won't go to Lynthia and say anything right?"

He looked up. "Hell no. Fuck everyone in that shitty town, why do you think I got stuck with a flawed Class? They are all abhorrent assholes, especially the Ranker and his people, acts like a fucking despot warlord."

Rain twitched at that last mention.

The old man snorted softly and then wiped a tear from his eye. "I hope you give 'em a real bad day if you're headed there."

"That's on a need to know basis I'm afraid."

"...Right."

The old man gathered all the gold and gems up in the remains of his shirt and then stowed it in a homemade heavy leather bag. He hefted it, making an impressed sound at its weight. He then grabbed a pack from under his bed and threw a spare set of clothes into it. He looked around the trashed cabin apprehensively, knowing he likely would never see the sparse room again.

Lyra coughed into her hand. "Your herd?"

"Come with me."

Chapter 48

The old man led them outside and into the woods. About half an hour later, and after following a small stream for a time, they came to a stop by a large and heavy disc-shaped stone. The old man set his muscular body and heaved against it. The stone gradually began to move, then suddenly lurched to the side as Rain joined in and pushed it more easily. The stone was shifted out of the way revealing a cave

"Uh, thanks," said the leveler awkwardly.

"...No problem." gravelled Rain.

"My bird herd is inside here, forty-odd of them. I'd stick around but I'd rather not know what you're about to do, so..."

The old man backed away and then turned and jogged back into the forest.

Opal watched him go.

"This sucks."

"You think we could have found this herd without paying him?"

"..."

Red lowered his voice in a way he hoped Rain wouldn't hear. "That was the gold! H-how could you!? The precious goollllld!"

Opal snorted. It's gold not swords, plus that was nothing, there's still heaps.

"I think it was worth it, at least this way I don't feel bad," said Lyra with a sigh.

A bird squawk came from in the cave and Opal turned to see that Rain had already gone inside.

"Mmm. Maybe it was worth it for this bit," she said hurrying toward the entrance.

Inside she found Rain already going to work, the animals in the cave weren't so much birds as huge flightless ostrich-like raptors, each with large hooked claws reminiscent of a Panthara and serrated beaks. Despite supposedly being domesticated animals they did not go down docile and came at Rain with a wild fury. Opal looked on in shock as Rain disappeared behind a cloud of feathers and a cacophony of echoing squawking. It wasn't long before the birds realised they were hopelessly outmatched however and tried to flee. Rain didn't let them, his paws reaching out and dragging their long necks into his teeth sometimes two at a time.

Only two of the birds managed to get away and Opal was waiting for them, their necks made nice targets for her blades.

She finished to see Rain sitting in the middle absolutely covered in feathers, a feather balanced comically on the bridge of his nose. Opal couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" The motion of speaking lifted the balanced feather into the air for a moment before it drifted back down somehow in the same spot.

"N-nothing!"

"Hmmm.

Rain lifted the bird in his paws and took a bite out of its side, feathers and all.

"Tastes like turkey chicken," he mumbled from around his teeth.

He pulled away to see Opal staring at him, her lip twitching. He checked himself and realised he had a fan of feathers sticking from his mouth, the quills stuck between his teeth. He scowled and plucked and spat them out.

"Taking off points for featheryness..."

He continued with the bird and as he was finishing it Opal rolled another into his lap and he devoured that one too. He wasn't going to let the feeling of growth he craved go to waste nor minimise it by dividing it up so he dived straight onto the next one, letting the growth bank up deep inside of himself like a lake above a rickety dam just waiting to burst free.

He enthusiastically gorged himself, trying his best to ignore the feathers, rapidly eating his way through ten, twenty, thirty of the birds, Opal eagerly shoving another bird into his paws as soon as he was done with the current one, the Goblin getting progressively more excited as he neared the end.

At last he tore into the last bird and devoured it all. He spat free the feathers caught in his teeth and flopped backwards on the ground, which happened to be covered in loose feathers making a surprisingly comfortable natural bed. A growl slipped from his lips as the dam began to break, 'lumber' splitting and falling as more and more of it spilt forth until with a sudden rushing surge the growth exploded outward, rolling down his body in pulsing waves. He felt Opal climb atop him, her legs wrapped tight around his hips. She ground her crotch down on him, her hands clutching at his abdomen as she was lifted up into the air by rain as he arched his spine bucking his hips upward as his insides shifted and stressed and strained outward, growing larger and longer. He gasped as the feeling peaked and he collapsed back to the ground, the Goblin riding him going limp across his chest with a little breathy whimper.

"So fuckin gewdd!" sighed Opal. "I need to find you so much more food so you can surge and grow beneath me bigger than ever!"

"Maybe we'll find something in town."

After a moment of resting in comfortable silence Rain sat up, Opal falling into his lap.

She pouted up at him.

"I can't sit here like this. I'm covered from head to toe in feathers and muck and there's a stream nearby. I can have a bath."

Opal let out a pained groan and covered her face.

He stood up, tipping the Goblin off of himself and stepped outside. Lyra's face dropped in confusion when she saw him until she realised the feathers he was covered in must have come from the birds. Red made round eyes and firmly put his claws over his muzzle, even still a small giggle escaped his lips. Rain gave him a dangerous look and he immediately froze up.

The stream was quite small and not very wide but still fairly deep. That didn't stop Rain though, he sat down in the middle, his back facing downstream, and the water flowed around the large obstacle of his body. The blockage was enough that a broad pool started to form where the water ran into him, filling out and deepening. An absurd amount of feathers fell from his body and were washed downstream as he sat in the water.

Opal emerged from the cave and narrowed her eyes, watching as Rain washed, eyeing the water around him nervously. Gulping in anticipation, she carefully stretched out a leg and dipped a toe. She immediately jumped backwards like a startled hare and rubbed her toe where the water had touched.

"Disgusting nasty water!"

"I know you secretly want to come in, try again," gravelled Rain.

The Goblin set her lips in a line, unimpressed, but after a moment approached the water once more. This time she closed her eyes before dipping her toe in. She managed to hold herself in place for a moment, this... wasn't completely awful... the sensation of liquid on her skin was kinda nice.

A large paw wrapped around her foot and she wailed in distress as she was pulled into the water with a splash. She bobbed with only her eyes above the water and glared at Rain.

He grinned at her. "Progress."

On the shore Lyra crouched with her arms wrapped around her legs and her head on her knees peeking at Rain as he splashed around in the water. She wasn't going to admit it out loud but the interaction with the old man had upset her. The leveler had attacked them first and had casually professed to enjoying murdering Goblins in front of Opal. Lyra had killed Goblins for levels herself of course but... she hadn't enjoyed it and she wouldn't rub killing them in Opal's face, not unless she made her mad anyway. She wasn't quite sure how she had come to this new attitude, nobody cared about the Goblin slaves in her home city, not that they were around long enough to grow attached to them. Why bother feeding them properly when getting a fresh one was so cheap?... Was that wrong somehow?

She eyed Opal. The Goblin had moved to sit in Rain's lap and was preening as he washed her hair. Goblins at home didn't act like that, they were all demure and quiet and didn't speak up, they acted like they were plants or part of the furniture trying their best to not interact with levelers. That was what a good high quality and well trained slave did. That was.... Lyra bit her lip... that wasn't trying to do a good job, that was fear of dying. Seeing how alive and sapient and leveler like Opal was put her memories of the city in a horribly uncomfortable light.

She was busily worrying the problem when water splashed on her. She looked up to see Opal looking smugly at her. The Goblin was quite naked, her breasts above the waterline. Lyra blinked and a droplet of water fell from the tip of her nose.

"Gonna daydream forever sheepy?"

"N-no... what are you doing in the water anyway? I thought Goblins hated being clean?"

Opal scowled at her. "I'm different, y-yeah? It's about mindset, water is nasty and disgusting, therefore water is a type of filth, I am now filthy with water." The Goblin seemed like she didn't believe her own words even as she spoke them.

"...I'm not sure that's how that works, but okay."

A sour expression crossed Opal's face, this was not a subject she wanted to think about.

Behind her Rain stood up and the small pool he had formed suddenly rushed downstream between his knees, causing Opal to get caught in the current and wash up against him. He caught her and picked up the naked Goblin and carried her to shore. They found a large flat stone and both of them lay down atop it, the hot summer sun quickly drying them, evaporating the stream water away.

Soon they were dry and ready and set off back into the forest. A few hours later the forest started to thin and the group slowed. The trees parted and they came out on a rise overlooking a shallow forested valley. In the center of the valley was a walled town, the walls heavy and thick with crenellations. Two large defensive gatehouses set at the front and back, a cobbled road winding from each. Outside and separate from the town was a large mansion with its own private walls all built from heavy stone. Rain knew that mansion. It had always been there, for all of his life trapped behind the walls of Lynthia. It was the town Ranker's home.

An incredibly vivid memory from his past life flashed before Rain's mind. His knees curled up against his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs, trying to keep in as much body heat as possible as the overcast sky drizzled rain. He sat at the corner of a street, a tin cup in front of him. That cup combined with his ragged appearance would cause anyone to assume he was a beggar, which was essentially the case, although most beggars had an easier time of it than he did. An old woman paused in passing and looked down at the tin, pity in her eyes. She reached for her coin purse, but then she paused. She glanced down the street and up, the mansion outside of town just visible over the town's wall from where she stood. Rain could see the usual calculation in the old woman's eyes. Was it worth the risk of annoying the Ranker and therefore her life for some small charity? The answer turned out to be a no as she reluctantly removed her hand from the purse, but Rain was used to that. The old woman left and Rain continued to shiver in the cold. His stomach hurt, he hadn't eaten in three days.

Ran shook his head slightly, the memory wisping away.

He looked down to see Opal staring at the town.

"That's where levelers are from? But there are so many people in there!"

"I thought, but I never imagined, by tail and scale we never stood a chance of stopping the levelers from coming to the dungeon..." murmured Red.

"This is just a town, cities are far larger. It's a dungeon town that was built because there is a dungeon nearby, lots of levelers make use of it," said Lyra.

Rain eyed the walls. "I want in. How do I get past those walls without the entire town coming together to attack me?"

"I, I don't know, they will likely have precautions for my invisibility. Uhm, I can go look, I am a leveler unlike you, they won't give me a second glance unless I'm trying to be suspicious. I don't think they will know about my bounty yet, the dungeon was sealed this whole time so nobody outside of it will have heard. That will change once it is unsealed but for a little while I can go about without being hunted by bounty hunters and people looking to get really rich."

"... Fine. Lyra, go into the town and see if you can find out about what's happening, what the people in the town know, who went to the dungeon with the Inquisitor, and the whereabouts of the levelers: Brax, Myra, Lira, Eliza, and Adlen."

"Uhm, I can do that, I think, that shouldn't be a problem. Will you wait here?"

"No." Rain turned and narrowed his eyes at the mansion. "I'm going to the mansion."

Lyra couldn't help but shiver at his words. "To do what?"

Rain remained worryingly silent.

After a moment of hesitation, Lyra set off down into the valley. He watched her go then turned and led Red and Opal toward the mansion as the sun was dipping below the horizon in a blaze of deep orange.

Chapter 49

The blonde haired woman pressed the needle under the captive's fingernail, pushing it up and parting it from his finger. She watched with fascination as the shadow of the needle moved beneath the keratin, then she winced as the man's muffled screaming reached a higher pitch, apparently she had scraped bone.

"Is that enough? I don't particularly want to keep doing this. It's such a chore."

She eyeballed the Halfling to her side who was crouching and inspecting the chair the man was manacled to, preventing him from moving an inch. The heavy wooden chair, more a throne, was carved with an occult jagged scripture, the lettering faintly glowing orange-red as though burning from the inside.

The Halfling flicked her eyes up to the blonde.

"No Bella. The gem needs to be darker."

On the captives head was a steel circlet, embedded in the front of the circlet was a red ruby, or rather, what had been a red ruby. The ruby was slowly darkening, going from a ruby red to a blood red to a deep dark red closer to black.

Bella let out a sigh. "Why can't anyone else do this? This really isn't my thing."

"Because it's your turn. Plus everyone else is still obliterated from all the mana cut opiates they were messing around with late last night. If you can wake any of them up and get them to do this for you feel free."

"What about you?"

The Halfling grinned showing off her gold tooth. "I already did it a lot. Like a lot a lot. But Bane wants all his girls to get familiar with doing this, it's kinda his thing. You'll end up enjoying it though, it's like a game to see who can get the most out of the subject."

She scowled. "Fine. Let's get this over with. What's the next step?"

"The needle in his neck, see if you can't get it in a little further, be careful, but make it as painful for him as possible."

Bella reached out and her fingers touched upon the fat steel needle inserted in the man's neck, more a knitting needle than a sewing needle it was so large. The man tried to shake his head but the steel clamps held him still, his eyes wide and terrified, his nose flaring as sweat rolled down his heated skin.

She glanced at him and rolled her eyes. "Oh don't give me that look. If you wanted to avoid this fate you shouldn't have tried to cheat the Ranker. You only have yourself to blame."

Returning her attention she gripped the needle and began to slowly push it into his neck. The man screamed around his gag. The motion of his scream caused him to move slightly and that in turn caused the needle inside his neck to tear his flesh. He screamed some more.

"Yeah, this is good, the ruby is going fast now. You might have a knack for this you know."

Bella tweaked the needle causing the man to jerk and twitch in agony.

"You really think so? I know Bane likes it when he gets a good ruby! Gosh, I could show him this myself!" said Bella, sparkly eyed.

The Halfling gave her a flat look and muttered under her breath. "I do feel sorry for the village robbed of its idiot sometimes."

"Huh?"

"...Nothing."

Bella focused back on the man and stuck her tongue out the corner of her mouth, concentrating hard as she wiggled the needle deeper and deeper into his flesh.

"Girls," came a harsh voice.

She yelped in surprise and her hand jerked, the needle went somewhere it wasn't supposed to and blood began pouring from around the man's gag.

"Oh fuck! Oh shit!"

"What have you done! godsdamn it! We could have gotten it so much darker before he popped his clogs!" cried the Halfling.

The person with the harsh voice stepped into the room, a severe looking female Elf wearing close fitting all blacks. A close lidded third eye was centered in her forehead suggesting that she was not quite all Elf.

"Congratulations on killing your first. A little premature but not bad for a newcomer judging by that ruby."

Bella turned to the Elf. "It's still good?"

"You show some promise, perhaps you will be able to help Bane with other more important issues."

Bella gasped and looked almost giddy at the suggestion.

The Halfling scowled. "Naw, she's a ways off from that."

The Elf sniffed, looking down her nose at the Halfling distastefully. "Perhaps. In any case that Is not why I am here."

"Oh?" said Bella as the man in the chair let out a grizzly death rattle and expired. She carefully ignored that.

"Something triggered the proximity enchantment."

The Halfling stood up on the arm of the chair and plucked the now vanta black ruby from the circlet. She pocketed it and jumped down, heading toward the door the Elf stood in as Bella followed.

"And that matters why? It's probably just a bear again, they've been getting lively as of late, it is the middle of summer after all."

"It matters because Bane isn't here and there's an aggressive Orc clan in the area."

"And?"

"Let me boil it down for you: being successfully raided by Orcs would be very bad and Bane would be very very angry and likely take it out on us. Do you want to anger Bane?"

The Halfling froze up for a second and hunched her shoulders. "No. Okay fine, I still think it's a bear though."

The Halfling and Elf left the torture chamber and passed into the main lobby of the mansion, a huge room full of cushioned furniture. Two skinny cat-eared Humans were lazing on a couch, one with her hand down the other's pants, the one below squirmed under her ministrations. The Halfling and the Elf paid them no attention.

"Well, even if something is close to the mansion it's no big deal."

The Halfling stepped over to one of the drinks cabinets and began pouring herself a drink. She had to reach up awkwardly to do so due to her height.

"Why is it no big deal?" said Bella.

"Because they won't be able to get through the front gate."

The horrendous screech of iron being torn apart suddenly ripped through the air emanating from outside.

The two girls on the couch who had been all over each other flinched and pulled apart, staring wide eyed in the direction the sound had come from.

The Halfling paused and slowly turned toward the front door. "Was that...?"

"Uhm, I think that was the front gate," said Bella, her voice increasingly nervous and on edge. The Halfling and the Human gave each other wary looks.

"You don't think it actually is the Orc clan?"

The Elf frowned. "You really need to start listening to me. If it is anything it's going to be that."

"But there's just no way, they'd never be brazen enough to attack the Ranker's mansion like this."

"Yes, they would, you don't know Orcs, they'd see us as a challenge to be conquered."

"Well they picked a pretty time for it with Bane being away. Fuck."

"It's... manageable. In the end we can deal with Orcs, we have a lot of magic between us, and we only need to keep them off until the others can be woken."

BOOM.

The double front doors shuddered as though they had been hit by a massive battering ram and thin streamers of dust rolled from the ceiling shaken loose by the impact. A large floating transparent azure rune flickered to life over the door along with a transparent field, the mansion's main barrier designed to prevent entry. A low heavy rumbling snarl came from behind the door that seemed to vibrate through the ground. The dust suspended in the air rippled as the sound passed by.

"Uhhh, what the hell was that?" said the Halfling.

"A really angry Orc?"

"What Orc makes a sound like that?? I was right, it has to be a bear."

"I know of no surface bear capable of breaking through a solid iron gate. It will be a leveler of some kind, most likely an Orc, albeit a very angry one."

The Elf began kicking over tables and pushing them toward the door, creating obstacles.

"Wha- why are you doing that? The barrier isn't going to break."

"They may have a shaman if it is Orcs, in which case the enchantment may be partially unravelled. Prepare yourselves."

The women readied, the two cat-eared Humans pulling out longswords while the Halfling cracked her knuckles. Bella pulled out a knife and held it anxiously in both hands.

"If it's not a shaman it's fine, the barrier will hold, it is rated for physical attacks."

BOOM.

The door bulged inward as a room shuddering force hit it, the glowing barrier over the door flickered and strained under the impact. One of the girls nearly lost her balance as the whole building quaked. Anything loose on any of the table tops was knocked off or sent rolling. The magical lights that lit the room flickered and began to die as the barrier drew in mana from the entire mansion to maintain itself.

"An Orc shaman brute forcing it with kinetic spells m-maybe?"

"What the hell kind of shaman can do that?!"

The Elf was starting to look a little less confident in the barrier.

BOOM-CRASH!

The wood of the door started to disintegrate as it bulged inward, only being held together by the straining barrier. As shards of wood fell away a massive shadow became visible behind the gaps.

"That's no Orc, what the fuck is that!?"

"M-monster! It's a Monster!" cried out one of the cat eared girls.

A muzzle full of large terrifying teeth pushed through one of the gaps in the door, its nose pressing up against the barrier, its yellow eyes faintly luminous as it stared at the group. Then it began to push forward, forcing its way through with sheer impossible brute strength. The barrier stretched around its head even as a massive clawed paw pushed through another part of the door and began pushing out the barrier there too.

"It's j-just a monster, it can't break it, it's impossible!" wailed Bella.

"You really believe that!?"

The transparent field flickered and strained and flashed under the insane pressure, stretching in a way it was not meant to be stretched until with a thunder clap the barrier broke.

The group screamed as the huge nightmarish thing broke into the room, nothing at all between them and its violent savagery. They unleashed everything they had. The room exploded with popping flaring magic, lances of ice and violet fire and spinning discs of darkness and neon lightning, a veritable broadside barrage of magic.

The lobby was filled with thick smoke and the acrid stench of burning wood by the end of it. The group peered through the opaque haze as it gradually dissipated, the dark room dimly lit by the wreaths of magic around the cat-eared girl's longswords. There was nothing left of the monster, only one of the damaged doors... one of the damaged doors standing where the monster had been.

"Oh fuck."

The wolf thing launched the door it had used as a shield forward and it hit the three eyed Elf full on, knocking her off her feet.

The claws on the monster's feet tore up the floorboards as it exploded forward in the door's wake, charging straight toward the nearest leveler, one of the cat eared humans. Her face was a picture of terror as the black furred monster landed on her, smashing her to the ground. Its jaws came down on her entire head and ripped it from her torso in a fountain of gore sending copious amounts of blood spraying over the furniture.

"F-fucking kill it! KILL IT!" screamed the Halfling.

The Elf with the third eye scrambled to her feet and turned on the monster, thrusting out her palms. The eye on her forehead flashed bright and cracked open and a bright violet glow emanated from it that wisped yellow, reminiscent of a Gazer. A beam of light burst from the eye, a pulsating solar line of fire that burned through the air lighting up the poorly lit room. The thing leapt to the side as the beam struck but it still glanced across its stomach eliciting an angry growl and burning away a line of fur.

It bounded forward and grabbed a couch, throwing it at the Elf even as it scooped up the table next to it to use as a shield. The Elf dodged easily and the beam of light continued to follow, rolling across the room and scoring black flaming marks on every surface.

The remaining cat eared girl ran and leapt from a chair going flying into the air, her longsword crackling with electricity swinging over her shoulder as she spun acrobatically toward the beast. This would be easy, monsters made poor judges of just how dangerous her weapon was, her blade swung down like a guillotine, eager to part the beast's head from its body.

At the last possible moment the wolf thing stopped and torqued its hips, swinging the table in its paws around like an immense bat. The corner of it took the leaping leveler in the side, her ribs caved under the brutal body blow and she was tossed across the room with a scream abruptly cutoff by slamming into the wall.

The Elf took the opportunity and whipped her beam toward the unshielded beast, she smiled, this was it, she had it. Bane would be angry about what had been done to the mansion but he would appreciate her kill, yes this could come out in her favour and the rest of the harem's disfavour. She snorted contemptuously as the light hit home and the beast roared in agony. With each second the beam touched its body the monster became more and more paralysed, unable to move or escape as the beam slowly burned its way inward. This was what made her so dangerous, she was inescapable once locked on, nothing survived, she was one of Bane's favourites for a reason!

"Hah! Patheti-"

A steel blade stabbed her in the back and she stumbled forward, the beam going wide, zig-zagging wildly up the wall.

"Get fucked Elfy!" came a voice behind as she caught a flash of green out of the corner of her eye.

Gritting her teeth against the pain she turned her attention back to the main threat. Unfortunately for her it seemed to have known that the backstab was coming and the monster was in the middle of hurtling toward her. She panicked and fumbled her aim, desperately trying to realign her beam toward the black meteor, but it was all simply too late. It crashed into her full bodied and she was blown off her feet. She landed on the couch behind her, the monster coming with her, her beam flickering on and off before dying, plunging the room into darkness.

She could feel the weight of the monster on top of her making it difficult to breathe, its hot breath on her face, tugging at her hair.

"I don't know how you lived with yourself, being with the Ranker," it graveled. She could feel its heavy bass voice vibrating through her body.

She blinked, this monster could speak?... Well, why not, it didn't matter anymore.

"...It was easy, I loved every minute of it. Someday I would have out leveled him and made him mine alone but being with him had plenty of benefits in the meantime."

"Despite who he is? What he does?"

She grinned fiercely.

"That was the best part, that and the money, and fame, and levels, and power. You will never understand as sub-sapient monster filth."

It remained silent as if studying her, then, without hesitation, the beast sunk its teeth into her neck and tore out her throat.

The Elf died and the room became dark and quiet.

And then, light flickered. The mana powered lights of the mansion struggling to dimly illuminate. Flickering light separated by pitch black seconds.

A massive shadow could be seen in those fractional moments of light. Each time the light flickered back on it had moved.

Bella clutched the knife to her chest wide eyed, her breath coming in short pants. She huddled behind the desk, knees drawn close. She hadn't signed up for this! She just wanted to fuck the hot high leveled Ranker and potentially get some nice levels and money as an aside. This, this wasn't supposed to go like this! Some terrifying thing was in the room with her, the kind of monster she heard stories about as a child, from the deepest darkest unfathomable depths of a dungeon, the kind of dark horror that levelers only spoke of in hushed whispers!

The floorboards creaked beneath its broad heavy foot pads. It was drawing closer. It was coming in this direction! She stilled her body and held her breath, desperately trying to avoid being found.

Quiet.

Creaaak.

Trembling, she slowly turned her head. A pair of large yellow eyes were looking right at her from the dark. Her skin crawled as though it wanted to rip from her bones and flee where those terrible eyes could not follow. She screamed and stabbed wildly with her dagger. A huge paw came up and caught the blade, the knife slipping a little into the pad, but not far. The huge digits curled around her hand, engulfing it.

"P-please! Don't kill me!" she sobbed, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"...Why?" It growled.

It was asking why?? Could she maybe talk her way out of this??

"I'm- I'm really new! I only recently came to this town unlike the others, I don't know what's going on, I've never done anything wrong! I'm completely innocent! S-spare me! I'll do anything, anything!"

She waited, her thoughts going a million miles a minute. The monster seemed to be thinking, considering.

It shifted.

Then a voice came from behind her.

"Torturers aren't innocent, especially an apple polishing bitch like you."

The vrsssh sound of magic exploding from a palm rent the air and Bella only had a moment to realise what was about to happen, far too little time to do anything about it. The yellow eyes were already gone. A wide black cutting disc crossed her gaze... below her. Now she was falling, she looked as the light flickered, not fully understanding. Her hips and legs were beside her... she was separate, cut in two, bisected at the navel. Her trembling hands touched at the warm mass that was her guts slowly spilling across the floorboards. Everything was going fuzzy, but strangely she wasn't panicking, just confused, why was this happening? It didn't make sense, it was just nonsensical. Things were getting cold now, and she felt so weak. Bella felt herself slipping away but she didn't understand, she wasn't like the man she had killed, she was different, special, She couldn't just die, she couldn't. She was utterly convinced of this even as consciousness left her and her chest stopped moving.

The room was dark and quiet once more.

"Tch. Missed," said the Halfling from the shadows.

"You killed your ally just to get to me? You didn't need to do that. No wonder the Ranker keeps you about, you're as twisted and awful as he is."

"Nearly worked, didn't it? Fuck her. Tell me who you belong to monster, whose slave are you? Who put you here? The Orcs?"

It huffed air out its nose."I belong to nobody, I do whatever I want."

"Hah! Good joke. It doesn't matter, the Ranker cannot be defied or resisted, he's far far too strong. Once he returns he will hunt down whoever sent you and make them wish they'd never been born."

"He already did that, a lifetime ago."

"Hmph, nonsense. You have no idea of what he is really capable of. Now be a good monster and die for my levels."

A cacophony of Vrsssh-ing sounds filled the air as disks of darkness were shot out blindly. The Halfling turned on her heel as she fired the last and fled from the lobby, slamming the door behind her. She thundered down the hall as fast as her small legs could carry her. Behind her the door exploded into splinters and the hall was filled with the monster as it chased after her.

The Halfling dove down a side corridor, up some stairs, then left, then right, using her memory of the interior to keep ahead and navigate the darkness. At last she found what she was looking for and burst through the door. A large master bedroom was revealed, the center of which was filled with a vast and heavy oak bed, big enough for the Ranker's bulk and all his girls. The flickering light revealed over a half dozen people of various species on the bed all sleeping extremely deeply, the result of all they'd imbibed last night. The Halfling sent a quick thankyou to the gods for having chosen to skip that particular party.

The creaking of floorboards was approaching so she dove beneath the bed, wiggling and crawling until she was near the center and on her back, the heavy crossbeams of the bed above her.

She calmed her breathing as best she could and waited.

The door swung open with a creak and a heavy foot pad came down in the room, then another, the Halfling listened carefully as the monster drew near. It paused for a moment observing the bed, then the bed creaked and groaned as a new huge weight crawled on top of it, the wood bending alarmingly beneath the burden.

She heard the questioning murmured sigh of one of the girls, apparently not all of them were completely out of it.

The murmured sigh choked off as a pair of jaws moved in the dark.

The Halfling bit her lip. This dangerous monster had perfectly taken the bait. She had problems with aiming her cutting discs, but this, this would be like shooting fish in a barrel. She spread her arms and legs and centered her core. She could hear the monster above, moving across the bed... Now.

Black discs exploded up from all over her body, they penetrated the wood above her, ripping through it, up through the bed, up through the pile of women sleeping above her, tearing slicing shredding.

The Halfling stared wide eyed at the bottom of the bed above her. Many long dark slots in the wood were now patterned across it. As she watched blood began to drip and then after a moment pour and then waterfall from the slots, falling across her body and the floorboards.

A cruel smile curled her lips, her gold tooth glinting in the dark. She'd done it. She'd killed the monster and somehow Bane would be all hers... Wait, shouldn't she have leveled up from a really strong monster like this? Maybe it wasn't as strong as she had assumed?

Her train of thought was suddenly derailed by the groaning shriek of wood failing under load.

Her eyes widened in horror as above her the bed collapsed, the heavy crossbeams plus the pile of diced people atop it falling on the Halfling. She might have survived, but then one of the beams landed on her throat, cutting off her breathing and pinning her in place. Her eyes bulged out as she realised just how trapped she was. She scrabbled at the wood in panicked desperation, her fingernails scoring long lines, but nothing she did could move it with so much weight on top.

As she ran out of air and everything started to slip away she heard the floorboards creak with the sound of heavy pads.