Lia shut the book, face burning red. She had known the book was steamy, but she hadn’t expected it to be that steamy; it had pictures! Perhaps…perhaps it was better for her to dive into things slowly; she had barely any experience with sexual things before, and this was far beyond anything she had experienced with her old boyfriend, Liam.
She had never let anything get far with him, preferring to wait until they had both finished their education, but…well, she had never gotten a chance to finish school, so things never progressed. She wondered about him for a mont before she realized that her family was here now, and she could just ask what had happened with him.
So, she got up and sought out Robin. Her parents were out clearing one of the dorms, Olivia had never paid much attention to Liam, or romance in general, and Maria had been rather preoccupied with her book the last ti Lia had seen her, so that left only Robin if she wanted answers now.
“Hey, Robin, you have a minute to talk?” Lia asked, knocking on the door to Robin’s room. “I’ve got a couple of questions for you.”
“Huh?” Robin called out, clearly startled. “Um, yeah, give a minute.”
Lia waited patiently as Robin shuffled around in her room for a bit, then, finally, ca to the door. “Sorry about that.” Robin breathed. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much, I was just thinking, and realized I never asked about Liam. Do you know how he’s doing nowadays?”
Robin made a face. “Oh. Him.” She spat. “Yeah, unfortunately he’s doing just fine.”
Lia frowned. “Did sothing happen between you two?”
“No, he just showed his true colors after you died. He had a new girlfriend literally two days after you died. He didn’t even co to your funeral. And he had the gall to hit on Maria a year or two ago, after virtually no contact that entire ti. He’s awful and we all distanced ourselves from him.”
“Oh.” Lia said. “I…didn’t know.”
“None of us did. You’re…not thinking about getting back together with him, right?”
“No.” Lia said quickly. “I was just curious. I’m very happy with Rose, and I hadn’t really even thought about him until now. Now that I’ve heard about how he acted…well, I’ll have to think about how to treat him when he’s converted, but it’s not going to be anything like how people are treated now. He’ll be a ‘normal’ mber of the swarm at best.”
“Well, that’s good to hear.” Robin said. “Um…anything else or can I get back to it?”
“Sure, but what were you doing in there, anyway?” Lia asked curiously.
“Nothing, good talk, bye!” Robin blurted out, then shut the door on Lia.
Lia just chuckled and headed back to her room. She still had so ti while she waited for the conversions to finish, and while the book she had been reading was a bit much, she had others. And, if she began feeling bold again…well, she’d just have to see.
Lia had just worked up the courage to return to her book when she got a notification informing her that the first of the new conversions had finished, followed shortly by another for the second. She took a mont to check her stores of Blood Money, found that she had just over two thousand, then set off for where she had left the cocoons.
When she got there, she found that the two new monsters were just sitting there, waiting for instructions. One looked much like Lia’s mother, but the other was…different. She had four arms and bee wings, but instead of the carapace that bee-kobolds had, her skin was a thick, leathery black material, like the worms from the library.
As she approached them, they looked up at her expectantly. “Alright…” She muttered, placing a hand on each of their heads. “Be enlightened.”
2,000 Blood Money has been subtracted from your reserves! Thank you for shopping with the Dinsion of Discounts!
The two monsters in front of her sort of...stopped for a mont before looking up at her. They weren’t moving before, but even without movent or…anything at all happening, there was the feeling of a pause, a mont where the world just felt still before, suddenly, things were different.
“Would you two like nas?” Lia asked.
“Yes, my Queen.” The bee-kobold mage slayer said. Her partner, the chiric-kobold nobody, just nodded.
“Then you will be Dahlia,” Lia said, withdrawing her hands from their heads and pointing at the nobody, “and you will be Callia.”
“What would you have us do?” Callia asked. “We are at your command.”
“How much do you two rember of your past lives?” Lia asked. “You are both reincarnated souls, great explorers I was told.”
The two thought about that for a mont, then Dahlia shook her head. “I don’t rember much, I’m afraid.”
“Nor do I.” Callia said. “My apologies.”
“I was expecting it, don’t worry.” Lia said. “It was the sa way for everyone else, too.”
“Then there are others like us?” Dahlia asked.
“Yes, several.” Lia confird. “You’ll et them later. For now, does the na “Spine of the World” spark any feelings within you?”
Both of their eyes lit up at that na. “Drive.” Dahlia said.
“Whatever it is, it motivates .” Callia added.
“Good.” Lia said. “We are in a dungeon that seems to be located within the Spine. To jog your mories, the Spine of the World is a series of mountain ranges that separates the settled land from the unsettled land. And this unsettled land happens to include so extraordinarily scary monsters.
“So, we’re in a bit of a pickle. As much as the Spine keeps us safe, it also traps us in here, and we need to be expanding. The more we can expand, the stronger we get, and the more we can prepare for when we are, eventually, discovered. But, given the dangerous nature of the spine, we’ve been hesitant to send people to do the exploring.
“And that’s where you two co in. It is my understanding that you were people who wanted to explore the Spine, knowing the risks. I won’t force either of you, but…knowing that it might well end in your deaths, would you two be willing to do the exploring for us?”
“Absolutely.” Dahlia said.
“I would like nothing more.” Callia concurred. “Just point us to the exit.”
“Not so fast.” Lia said, smiling faintly. “Before we let you two loose, you’re going to need to do so training inside the dungeon. I want you two to be thoroughly used to your new bodies and abilities before you explore such a dangerous place. But…well, Rose needs to be here to fully clear you, so until then just ss around with your abilities. Everything should co naturally, but…better safe than sorry.”
“If that is what you wish, then I have no complaints.” Dahlia said.
“That…is acceptable.” Callia said reluctantly. “As much as I would prefer to be out there imdiately, I see the wisdom in that.”
“Good.” Lia replied. “I’ll let Rose know you’re here, and once she gets back, we can get started.”
“No need.” Rose said, walking up to them. “I assu you’re asking about so sort of training or sothing?”
“Oh, Rose, good timing.” Lia said. “Yeah, I was wondering if you’d just give them a quick look-over and make sure they’re up to scratch before we send them out.”
“I was planning on it.” Rose said. “Would you care to watch?”
Lia hesitated, thinking on that for a mont. “No, not now.” She said. “I was in the middle of so, uh, research, and I need to get back to that.”
“Research? What sort?” Rose asked.
“Um…about how, uh, relationship stuff between girls works. I’ll let you know more when I’ve figured out more myself.”
Rose raised an eyebrow. “I see, that is important, carry on then.”
Lia, blushing fiercely, turned away. “Yeah, thanks.” She said, then rushed back off to her room. That settled it; she was going to see this book through, no matter how spicy it got. She owed it to Rose, if nothing else.
“I believe that should be adequate.” Rose said, twirling her spear before dismissing the weapon. Dahlia wasn’t that familiar with spears, but she was pretty sure that twirling a spear like that was a lot harder than it looked. She hadn’t been able to get a good grasp of Rose’s abilities through their brief clash, but she could tell that there was sothing different about her.
“If you don’t mind my asking, the Queen ntioned that there are other reincarnated individuals among our number.” Dahlia said. “Would you be one of them?”
“Yup.” Rose said, sitting down into seemingly empty air only to be caught by a large flower that grew out of nowhere. “Aside from Lia’s family, save for her mother, and one other person, everyone here is reincarnated.”
“Do you rember who you were?” Dahlia asked.
Rose shrugged. “So. It’s still coming back to , but I was the Ruby Emperor in my past life.”
Dahlia frowned. “Sorry, the na doesn’t an much to .”
Callia, on the other hand, seed to recognize that. “Oh.” She said quietly. “That would explain things. I…don’t rember the exact details, but I know that’s a really important na.”
“You two are likely big nas yourself.” Rose said. “And don’t feel bad about not knowing the na, Dahlia. There’s a very real chance you lived long before I did. Anyway, how are you two feeling, and how are your reserves of Mana and Stamina?”
“I should be fully topped up in a few minutes, and I’ve got more than enough energy to get going now.” Callia said.
“I am in the sa situation.” Dahlia added. “Would you please show us to the exit?”
Rose stood up, and the flower she was sitting on vanished. “I suppose so. If you would follow , I’ll explain everything in detail as we walk.”
And she did. Dahlia and Callia received quite a bit of information on the situation they had found themselves reincarnated into, everything from what background on the Queen and this dungeon to their eventual goal of world domination. Even with the ten or so minute walk to the portal, they still ended up waiting around for another five or ten while Rose finished her explanation.
And, after what seed like forever, she finished. “For the ti being, I think we’ll have you two working semi-autonomously from Chrys, but make sure to report your findings to her. If she’s not around when you get back, report to either Lia, her parents, or , and then give her the report when she gets back. Once we figure out exactly how dangerous this area of the Spine is, we’ll reassess our assignnts and figure out if we can risk sending the less-stealthy out.”
“Understood.” Callia said. “Do you need anything else from us before we begin?”
Rose tapped her chin thoughtfully. “No, I believe that is all. Report back within six hours or we will consider you lost.”
“We’ll be back before then.” Dahlia said, walking towards the portal. “You won’t be disappointed.”
She stepped through the portal, Callia close behind. She was t with a chill that creeped in through her armor, but it wasn’t to the point where she couldn’t deal with it. Still, that was sothing to take note of – she’d have to requisition so warr clothing for anyone exploring this region.
It also ant that she’d have to cut her expedition a little shorter than she would have liked, but that wasn’t a big issue for a first foray into the place; it was better to err on the side of caution when she didn’t know much about what it was like.
“I’m going to head off on my own.” Callia said. “I know splitting up is generally a bad idea, but our capabilities are different enough that I feel it’s warranted. I’m significantly more mobile than you are, and if we’re being stealthy anyway, then a smaller group is harder to spot.”
“I…suppose that’s fair.” Dahlia admitted. “Be careful out there.”
“Sa to you.” And then…Callia was gone, only the very muted sound of her footsteps indicating that she was only invisible and not sowhere else entirely.
It took Dahlia until reaching the mouth of the cave to realize that she hadn’t asked in which direction Callia would be exploring, and by then she was…probably gone. Even if she wasn’t, Dahlia didn’t want to make too much noise, just in case sothing was around to hear her. If only she could tell where Callia wa–
You have gained the Skill Ally Sensor!
You have gained 1 Skill this evolution! Further Skills will require more practice to obtain!
Ally Sensor
Level 1: 0/100 EXP
Allows the user to know where their allies are. Can be toggled on and off at will.
Level 1: Gives the user a secondary sense that provides the location of all allies within 10m. Does not work if those allies do not wish to be found by the user.
Now you can be sure they have your back
Dahlia blinked. She had been inford of this new thod of getting Skills, but it was an entirely different thing to see it in action. She’d have to pay attention to the things she did now, so she didn’t completely ruin her Skill spread. It was…frustrating, in a weird way; her options were so much more diverse, and the condition for obtaining a new Skill was so vague that it felt like getting any sort of combination that worked well together was going to be rough. Though…from the sound of it, it seed that she would be getting more Skills in total, so hopefully it wouldn’t be too big of an issue in the long run.
But she would have to worry about that later. At the mont, she needed to get to exploring, and she couldn’t be more excited. Ally Sensor confird that Callia wasn’t around, so she was free to take in the view and pick a direction to go from there.
And the view was stunning, from the snow-capped peaks of mountains in the distance to the veritable ocean of forest that laid in front of her. She took in a deep breath, enjoying the clear mountain air, then took stock of her options. Unlike Callia, she didn’t have any built-in abilities that would make her vanish, so she had to consider her other tools.
She was technically capable of burrowing into the earth in a pinch, but that was a last resort; she didn’t have any extra senses that would let her know where she was going, so there was a real risk of getting lost if she tried to use it as movent, and not to create a temporary hiding spot.
She could fly, but, like burrowing, she wasn’t exactly good at it. Her wings almost felt like an afterthought, and she couldn’t make any precision movents with them. They were really loud, to boot, so those also went into the “last resort” category. Though…it was probably worth practicing flight anyway, in hopes of getting so Skill that would make it better. But that was sothing to do in the relative safety of the dungeon, not in a place like this.
So…she was basically stuck doing things the old-fashioned way, but that suited her just fine; it just ant that she’d have to be extra careful not to draw the attention of any monsters. She was much more suited to combat than Callia, but there was no guarantee any monster she encountered would be even close to her power level.
A familiar excitent bubbled up within her as she began to move, carefully descending the slope in front of her. There was a vast plot of uncharted territory in front of her, and she couldn’t wait to see what it had in store.
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