“DISAPPOINTEEEEEEEEEEED!”

“Reysha, please,” Aclysia looked at her shouting companion with a distressed glare.

“What? The guide said nothing about monsters that were attracted by loud noises,” the tiger girl returned, wringing the water out of her hair. She was standing in the cave in nothing, while Aclysia only wore her underwear. Swimming in full gear would give it unnecessary damage and clothes had the tendency of soaking up and adding extra weight.

Inside the adventurer’s bag, the gear was moderately safe. As long as the cord remained tight the objects inside would stay dry. If the bag was opened underwater, or if it stayed submerged for too long, the bag would malfunction. Water, by the laws of physics, would try to enter the magical space but the enchantments of the bag would see all of the water surrounding it as one object. What happened in such a case was the sudden and surprisingly harmless ejection of all items inside the bag, followed by the destruction of the enchantments on the bag, making it just a simple pouch. In the event that the amount of water actually could fit into the bag, it drenched everything inside the bag.

Higher grade adventurer’s bags were safe from this for a longer time, the highest practically forever. Regardless, it was something people had to be aware of. Putting pure water into an adventurer’s bag was not recommended. Neither was using it as a water pouch. While it may sound convenient at first, one had to realize that the only way to get it back out was to scoop it out by the hand. Technically speaking, turning the bag over also worked, but that wasn’t exactly a proper way to drink. Also keeping water sloshing around freely inside an adventurer’s bag eventually caused it to drip. The enchantments were not designed to carry a liquid inside them.

Similarly, the gripping tissues of the Grapplegoo were not really designed for the human body and Reysha took issue with what she was seeing because of it. She had expected the acquisition of muscles, or a replacement for them, to immediately transform Apexus’ body into a work of art that pleased her as much as his face. “I was hoping I could build my dream man here,” she voiced her continued disappointment with the situation, “Instead I’m looking at… well, that,” she gestured wildly at her beloved chimera.

Apexus looked basically unchanged.

When he moved his limbs, some of the semi-liquid muscle tissue became visible as sinew-like strings that rose out from underneath his light brown membrane. As for the rest of his appearance, it was as lanky as before. “They do their job,” Apexus stated, nodding towards the two rocks he had thrown in demonstration. One was a mere three, the other about seven metres away from them. Not the world’s most prestigious throwing record, but it showed a clear improvement.

The tissues were not made to attach to human bones, but even as a temporary Growth they latched on well enough to fulfil the basic function wanted. Apexus tensed the muscle that ran along the insides of his arm repeatedly. After all of this time consciously moving a limb, it was entertaining how simple it was to make his arm fold at the ease of a single thought.

“I wanted a buff man whose abs I could kiss and who could spank the bad girl out of me!” Reysha wailed in a dramatic fashion. “Woe is me, I miscalculated and now I’m stuck with this terrible, multi-dicked lover with a vibrating tongue that goes deeper than any cock out there…”

Aclysia couldn’t withhold her sarcasm, “While your irony lays thick, I cannot help but feel that part of you is honestly distressed by this lack of physical impressiveness.”

“I think I will faint!”

“It’s just a temporary Growth,” Apexus reminded Reysha.

“What is the point of being, if my cheeks don’t get clapped?”

“Plus, the human body is pretty intricate,” the slime added. “It’d take me a bit to set it all up correctly.”

“Ahhh, what is a lewd maiden to do, when she is left waiting like that?”

“Masturbate?” Aclysia suggested.

Instantly, Reysha’s behaviour switched from hyperbole to an amused giggle, “Hey, you said it sweet cheeks, not me.” Aclysia pressed her lips together and blushed a little bit at that comment. “Anyway, did I just hear right that all you need to finalize your ascension to a sex god…”

“A humanoid,” the metal fairy chimed in. “With the muscles, he would finalize his TRANSFORMATION to a HUMANOID, Reysha. Please, ascension to godhood means a very specific thing.”

“…to finalize your elevation to a sexual superbeing,” Reysha obliged the corrections, “is for ya to eat the boss and then spend whatever amount of time sorting out where you place all of the muscles?”

“I’d probably need to inspect a live specimen while I do it,” Apexus responded and tried to smile suggestively. He hadn’t hooked up any muscles to his mouth yet, so that was a purely conscious effort.

It didn’t quite work out, as Reysha proved by asking a quick question, “Are ya genuinely saying ya need reference material or do ya just want to feel me up?”

“Yes.”

Reysha broke out into wild, manic laughter. “ACLYSIA?!”

“Yes?” the metal fairy was slightly taken aback by the mad tone of the redhead.

“Quickest route to the boss, now,” the redhead declared. “We’re going balls to the wall until Apexus has the strength to spank me with.”

“I do not think that’s wise,” the white-haired angel suggested. “While swift movement may be advisable, discarding safe progress in favour of intense intercourse in the near future is an unwise trade.”

“Aclysia… Aclysia, Aclysia, Aclysia…” the redhead sighed and patted her fellow, not quite as nude woman, on the shoulder each time she said her name. “How do I put this…” she rolled her neck. “What do I do with you, Clysia?” Reysha sighed. “It’s difficult to put it into words… Ah, right,” she snapped her fingers. “Abs.”

“That does not strike me as enough reasoning to…”

“ROCK HARD,” Reysha interrupted loudly, only to tone it down to a whisper, “abs. Right? Hard enough to grind meat on. Bulging biceps that you know make the grip of his hands strong enough that he can squeeze your pretty little throat strong enough that it silences the ‘Aaaahhh’,” it was a very well-acted gasp of pleasure, “in ‘asphyxiation’.”

“I don’t think biceps are related to grip strength,” a red-faced Aclysia said, her rapidly blinking gaze dashing from Reysha’s face to Apexus plain body and then down to the redhead’s hourglass figure. Occasionally she tried to focus on eye contact. It didn’t last longer than three seconds at a time.

“What do you care about the thickness of my arms for?” Apexus wondered.

“What do you care about the thickness of my thighs for?!” Reysha responded in a shaken tone. “What kind of fucking retarded question is that?”

“The state of the thighs is a good example for balance between a healthy amount of fat and a trained body,” Apexus answered factually. He had thought quite a bit about why he found what about the female physique attractive. “The size of the bicep is related to the amount a male can lift, which would likely make them a better protector of the offspring, instinctively speaking. I just answered my own question. Sorry, I should have considered the seed before the tree.”

“Okay… alright, okay…” Reysha mumbled, growing more exasperated by the lack of awareness her less sexual teammates/partners displayed. “Okay, you come here,” she wrapped her arms around the necks of both of them and pulled them so close she whispered into both of their ears. “I’ve been teased that this goo ball that saved my life and that I somehow fell in love with, despite him looking like an eldritch abomination half the time, is going to turn from a gorgeous, skinny lad into a gorgeous, muscular god.”

“Not a god,” Aclysia complained.

“Shhh, shhh, bouncy bottom angel, the crazy kitty is speaking,” Reysha responded, her pearly teeth revealed in all their sharpness. Her lips were pulled into a wide grin and her eyes wide open. The near absolute black of her sclera dominated the blue iris. “The point is that I’ve been teased with that and a thorough body inspection, because, let’s be clear, you’re a replica of a person and I’m flesh and blood.”

“Accurate,” Apexus said. “Technically it would be better if I looked at another man for reference…” The stare he received made him shudder with mild fear and wild anticipation for what the redhead wanted from him. “I’m sure I’ll learn all I have to from your body. It will be more pleasing than the alternative, in any case.”

“Yesssssss,” Reysha hissed, her red tail slowly curving and a long giggle reverberating from her throat like a threatening purr. “So what we will do, is clear this dungeon in record time, because I’m a horny, fuck-ass crazy nympho who wants her ass fucked by the man who makes me feel satisfied, wild and tamed.” She kissed Apexus on the cheek, nibbled on his fake ear. She leaned up to the proper ones on top of his head. “Sorry if this is a bit sudden or unreasonable, but something just snapped and now,” she went back to giggling, “now I need it!”

Apexus was distracted from answering by noticing a movement in his periphery. Before he could warn anyone or react to it, Reysha had already snapped forwards and grabbed the snake mid-strike. The serpent coiled, in an attempt to get out of the tense grip, but Reysha twisted its neck before it made any progress.

“We’re going full speed with the necessary amount of security, okay?” the crazy tiger girl asked.

“The necessary amount of security,” Aclysia nodding, rubbing her thighs together. She was sexually submissive and this current situation had those impulses awake despite it not really being an intercourse situation.

“As fast as we SHOULD,” Apexus added emphasis to the last word, trying his best to keep his tentacles from forming. While he did find her display of sexually-driven insanity immensely appealing, he did not want it to threaten their wellbeing. Sticking his tendrils in crazy was very fun, as long as he still had the tendrils.

Reysha was the most combat savvy member of their group due to her spontaneous and instinctive nature. Both of these attributes did not lend themselves well to a thought-through, secure strategy. It was Apexus’ job, as the team leader, to reign in the excesses of her desires. Even if he, as her lover, wanted to cater to them.

After a short, impatient nod by the tiger girl, they continued their advance into the depths of the dungeon. It was a good thing that Reysha, as much as she wanted, could not force them to progress any faster than Apexus deemed safe. Even if the redhead wanted to see the boss devoured and the slime to fully form his humanoid shape, she would not jump headfirst into dark water and get herself killed or injured. If she was hurt, healing her would take time and being dead was a hindrance to having sex.

Even though Apexus took his time to thoroughly munch his way through the tunnels, they did advance at a breakneck speed. Most of this was due to the slime’s unique advantages. Even species that could breathe and live underwater were less well equipped for this particular dungeon. Apexus didn’t have to worry about getting too cold, about his stamina, about surfacing or about wounds. All he had to protect was his core and none of the monsters had any way of threatening him.

Dangerous as the Drowned Altar would have been to regular adventurers, particularly those that usually relied on heavy gear to protect themselves, to Apexus it was a delectable buffet. Because all of the water assailants were ambush predators, he didn’t have to try much to find them either. All he had to do was look helpless and then eat them.

He chased that goal with the appropriate thoroughness, given the security of his women was on the line. However, saying that the promise of pleasing Reysha and attaining these highly useful muscles permanently didn’t motivate him would have been thoroughly wrong. Reclaiming a position of physical dominance in the group was a matter of pride for the slime. He was a predator and a protector. He couldn’t do either reliably if he relied on idiotic enemies that couldn’t handle his unique body type. All it took was one somewhat smart person with a long metal stick and Apexus was dead. The slime that could effortlessly clear a dungeon many adventurers struggled with for two months could be killed by the average farmer with a pitchfork. By raising his body heat to an extreme degree, he could have won that fight. Otherwise, he was slower and weaker than that farmer. An unacceptable circumstance.

Between their diving exercises, Reysha drove them to top speeds. She took the helm, made out the snakes and slew them quickly. Usually, Apexus would have served as the warning system for near-invisible monsters, but snakes messed with his tremor sense by virtue of gliding around. Hyped up on desire and monster meat, Reysha heard their quiet hisses and saw them slither in the dark.

When they stopped, the tiger girl always immediately passed out and they immediately went on when she was awake again. They didn’t take breaks for their usual bodily indulging. Reysha was too concentrated on the reward of this journey to spend additional time on the path. Apexus and Aclysia still had their little lovemaking sessions while she slept, but that was rather tame and short compared to their usual coitus.

And deeper and deeper they went into the Drowned Altar.