XXI

Giant's Drink

『S-Day +142』

『Maze X – 10th Floor Safe Room』

Health:

1000 → 2000↑/2000

Stamina:

1000 → 3635↓/5000

Mana:

1000 → 4333↑/5000

Life Force:

1000 → 5000↑/5000

Strength:

51 → 64

Intelligence:

43 → 44

Precision:

65 → 77

Wisdom:

46 → 49

Dexterity:

49 → 52

Willpower:

44 → 47

Endurance:

53 → 60

Perception:

69 → 75

Toughness:

44 → 46

Charisma:

37

Resistance:

34 → 37

Luck:

70

Health Recovery:

50

Stamina Recovery:

50

Mana Recovery:

50 (+20)

Life Force Recovery:

50

Skill Points:

12,775

Stored Mana:

54,526

Status Effects:

Fatigue (Minor)

Minions:

10 Tauross

10 Orkoss

10 Goblins

For days we slogged through hordes of ossians. Once we had entered the 6th floor, we realized it was an untouched nightmare just like we had seen in other levels. It was nothing but an orkish hell, filled to the brim with intertribal warfare. It was not very difficult to fight through them since I had my minotaurs and orks to be our meat-shields. Anytime I lost an ork, it was easily replaced.

With all the kills I had made, I had managed to nearly double my skill points. 13k were spent on my resource pools as it became obvious that despite the upscaling, I was able to utilize spells more frequently. While I dared not use enough electric magic to electrocute the ossians for fear of harming myself or the others, stun-locking with 《Chain Lightning》 worked amazingly well. It became a turkey shoot.

My stored Mana also became depleted when we ran out of certain provisions; mostly bullets. I was usually tasked, along with Lavinia, with taking out high priority targets in the rear. With Precision becoming 77, all of my shots became much more consistent. I was 9/10 for hits, but my accuracy for 1-shot kills was a bit more noticeable than before, at least half were a good headshot.

Currently, we were sitting snugly in a safe room. It was not very far from the boss room, but it was the only usable safe room on this floor. Or even the past 3 floors. Most were occupied by ossians and turned into a breeding den or an abattoir. We absolutely refused to bother with it. Inside this safe room, we finally got some rest and the girls were in taking a bath.

☘ ☘ ☘

“Jesus Christ your tits are huge.” Alicia was sitting behind Claritia fondling her ample breasts. “Like big balls of mochi or something. So does it still hurt to have sex?”

“Y-yes, but, ah, it's still enjoyable.” Claritia answered with a moan.

“You need to stop using healing magic and let it heal naturally. You'll enjoy it more.” Alicia instructed as she continued to squeeze and stretch the large breasts.

“But I enjoy the way he forces himself inside me. I-it's an amazing feeling.” Claritia replied.

“What the fu… oh my god, you're a healslut! Let's get my husband to fuck you.” Alicia stood up and wrapped herself in a towel before leaving.

Lavinia simply sat nearby watching everything unfold.

☘ ☘ ☘

『10th Floor – Lord's Chamber』

Crixus as a DPS/Tank: Check.

Lavinia as a ranged DPS: Check.

Alicia ranged DPS/Tank: Check.

Me as ranged DPS: Check.

Claritia as healer: Check.

Controlled goblins and orks as cannon fodder: Check.

Minotaurs as bigger cannon fodder: Check.

We had made our preparations. We approached the massive gates which lead into the boss room. They appeared immensely heavy, yet were quite easy to open; the miracle of hinges. Inside was an even more massive space. A field of square columns were easily seen and stretched out far and wide. What little light there was came from dimmed 「Glow Stones」. Each one jutting upward into the darkness of the unseen ceiling.

Someone ripped off the Mines of Mo-

*rumble*

My thoughts were interrupted by a distant rumbling. It sounded of rocks tumbling to the ground. We immediately hid against the base of a nearby column. A few minutes passed before the sounds stopped and we continued to explore. We would advance by using the column base as cover to hide ourselves in case there were ossians around. It was easy for us to hide behind as it was approximately 3 meters wide and 2 meters high; there were simple geometric designs engraved on the base.

No one had any idea how large the area was as the darkness obscured the edges of the room. We agreed that going straight from the entrance would lead to the boss and/or treasure chest. Even through my rifle scope, I could not see anything that stood out. I took out my bag full of 「Bright Stones」 and, after activating it, launched it forward with 《Gust》. Though it did not kill the night, it did allow us to see more than what the surrounding 「Glow Stones」 allowed.

“Over there.” I whispered to the others.

Eventually I caught sight of what I thought was the treasure chest. A massive stone statue was behind the chest. As if protecting it, it cradled the treasure chest while in a sitting position on the ground. It was difficult to tell the size, but I knew it was larger than what we have seen before.

《!》

A warning came and I realized the statue was staring at us.

It was the first time any of us had seen a giant before. We quickly retreated behind the nearest column base and watched as the giant slowly reach over to the also giant treasure chest, activate it, reach into it and pull out a weapon. A club of some sort. A big enough club that a single hit would kill us instantly.

It used the club to assist itself in standing up. Even from this distance we could hear it grunting as it struggled to rise. Dust and stone fell from its body as it rose up. We understood this was the sound we had heard earlier. Whether the giant was made of stone or not was unclear, but the warning I received meant it was a hostile.

At a crouched position, I aimed my rifle at 1 of its eyes. I had to wait for it to stand up for a clear shot. Once it had an exposed eye, I fired. And fired. And fired at it until my magazine was empty. 20 rounds. It screamed in pain as my bullets made contact. I could see either tears or blood or whatever makes up the fluid of the eye seeping from its hand which covered it. The giant was flesh and bone.

The noises it made were so loud that our bodies trembled from the sound waves. It was actually quite painful for our ears. I reloaded my rifle once the screams subsided and fired. The giant knew to protect its other eye and blocked all my shots. Bullets glanced off the fingers and hand, dislodging dust into the air around it.

The giant, while still protecting its face, began a long and loud chant with words I did not understand. Our attempts to stop it were futile. Bullets and arrows and flying blades were blocked by its colossal hand. In its other hand, what I had thought to be a club must have been a scepter or staff. It waved it around in the air and dipped it toward the ground in 5 different spots. And in those spots small Rifts formed.

“Fall back. Fall back and use the 「Earth Scrolls」 to make a defensive position.” I ordered to the others.

They moved quickly; back toward the entrance to the chamber. I remained behind to delay whatever would be appearing. Each Rift showered their respective areas with lightning strikes. It was blinding after having spent days in the darkened depths of the dungeon. But I could clearly see numerous silhouettes forming from each Rift.

Of those silhouettes, 2 were forms I could easily recognize. With large horns atop its head was a minotaur and with a horse-like body, a centaur. Once the Rifts began to dissipate, the others could now be seen. With a single eye on its face, a Cyclops; with a bulky mass of muscle, an Ogre; and one I have not seen before, a manbear something… a werebear. Beaross.

The giant roared. It gave orders to the 5 ossians which have just spawned. I took shots at the centaur thinking it would be the fastest amongst them. It was bulky and made an easy target. The others figured out my position from the muzzle flash and blindly charged. As they did so, the giant performed a 2nd chant. The ogre and minotaur died before I retreated. I knew already that the cyclops would be more difficult to kill and I learned just now the bear-thing's fur acted as a bullet sponge.

Bright lights of the Rift came and went and a 2nd wave would meet us. I had just made it to the makeshift fort with enough time to spare for the others to close it up before the cyclops and bear thrashed against the walls. The fort was generously wide having been placed between 4 column bases. I was kicking myself for not having figured out a spell for an upgraded 《Earth Wall》. And with what we had now, the ossians will have no problem breaking through. So we needed to slow down while we come up with a way to kill the giant.

My little army of goblins, orks and minotaurs were on standby. We gave them whatever weapons we had salvaged. The goblins and orks received bows and spears, but we had so few arrows to spare; 10 each at best. The minotaurs received shields, spears and/or swords. I used up as much of my stash of 《Earth Wall Scrolls》 to make platforms behind the walls for them to stand on. 「Bright Stones」 were thrown out in every direction to light up the area.

Alicia's blades flew to meet the bear-guy. Daggers either bounced off or was tangled in the thick fur, but as relentless as she is, a dagger was impaled in an eye and mouth. Lavinia easily blinded the cyclops with a single arrow with Crixus stabbing it through the throat with a spear. I took up position to snipe at the oncoming wave and prioritized the centaurs and ogres as they were the most agile. Each time my targets were cleared, I would take shots at the giant. Though at the distance we were, while the rifle range was no problem, the darkness made accurate shots difficult.

The summoned ossians became randomized in number from 1-3 of each type. Whether the giant was able to increase the number willingly was unknown, but it had become problematic for us. In order to attack, the goblins and orks had to stand atop the wall which made them easy targets. 1 by 1 my goblins were pulled off the walls screaming. My minotaurs, on the other hand, fared much better. The platforms gave them enough height to reach their spears over the wall. They were sweeping through the enemy ossians.

Which presented a new problem.

We had no way of getting rid of the dead bodies. My magic bags allow things to enter or 'fall into' so long as I allowed it through connecting with the distortion field. It will not pull anything in. So the only way we have removed bodies became null. The bodies started piling up. We were in the 7th wave and the giant kept spawning adds which made more bodies to pile over. From our left flank, a cyclops reached over and crushed a minotaur's head before Alicia could kill it.

I did what I could to slow down the attackers with 《Gust》 to blow them back, 《Arc Lightning》 to shock single targets and 《Chain Lightning》 to stun multiple targets that were close together. Of course, I continued taking pot shots at the giant with my rifle. Though it was futile. The giant just did not take much damage from my bullets.

“You 3, defend the rear. You 2, defend the front.” the minotaurs moved at my command.

An idea came to me; a way to reduce our flankers and concentrate on the front. It was something I had been avoiding. I would simply burn the corpses. The smell would be abhorrent, but it would buy us time to figure something out. Atop the wall I stood, and with great flames, I burned flesh and fur. Smoke filled the air as did the fires of my doing. I rushed to the other wall.

What was left of my goblins and orks were divided to the front and rear. The 4 minotaurs that were present protected me while I cast my 《Flamethrower》 onto the bodies below. I managed to burn a cyclops and ogre to death while the minotaurs had it pinned. The side walls were now engulfed in flames and would buy us a few minutes. I rejoined the front wall and launched more 「Bright Stones」 to replace the ones that had gone dark.

The goblins were absolutely useless. The only kill they managed was when a goblin somehow shot another goblin that was standing next to it. The orks fared better now that they were reinforced with the minotaurs. The bows had little effect, but the swords and spears were very effective. Crixus was being avoided due to the effects of 「Shield of Judgment」. Lavinia on the other hand was struggling. With no more arrows available, she had to rely on wind magic. Alicia was doing well targeting multiple enemies with her blades. Torrents of blades would crash into eyes, mouths and throats of enemy ossians.

…Blades.

“Alicia, can you conjure arrows?” my words broke her concentration.

“What? I dunno. Probably?” her attack faltered slightly as she thought it through, “I need an arrow to study.”

Lavinia, hearing this, pulled out the friendly-fire arrow from the goblin and rushed to Alicia. She received the arrow then retreated from the wall to study it with the aid of a 「Glow Stone」 for light. I took their place on the wall electrifying any attackers. With a spare 「Earth Scroll」, I created an 《Earth Wall》 next to me to use as ammo; 《Stoning》 used clumps of dirt, rock or stone as a projectile.

Alicia returned to the wall after I had depleted the 《Earth Wall》 I conjured. I saw Lavinia loosing arrows at the other end of the forward wall.

“The arrows are shit, but it'll do for now.” Alicia resumed her attacks while I retreated.

I joined Claritia, who was busy casting support spells, at the center of the fort. 《Health Regeneration》, 《Mana Regeneration》and 《Stamina Regeneration》 was cast on everyone except the goblins; they can fuck off and die. 《Consume Soul》 was leveled up enough to allow me to use on targets slightly further than before and helped my sustain. And because my targets were large ossians, I receive a larger than normal amount of Life Force.

Smoke rose into the upwards abyss and the fires dimmed. I would frantically multitask in running to the sides, CCing enemies with stuns, sniping, eating souls, burning bodies and maintain support spells. The fires dimmed and brightened. We became a blazing beacon in the night. A beacon which took the giant's attention.

Each step was an earthquake and each roar a typhoon.

Its right hand continued to protect its face as it marched toward us. Despite having summoned numerous ossians to overwhelm us, it was unsatisfied at us not being dead. The fires I had made now worked against us. There was no way for us to avoid the oncoming attack unscathed. The giant charged at us, stepping on its own summons just so it could get to us faster. It was going to kick the wall, I knew it was. I just knew. So did everyone else. They retreated to the side wall and made their way to the back.

The minotaurs were sent to the rear to protect the others while the goblins and orks were ordered to scatter. I remained near the front walls sucking on a mana potion and trying to turn the walls into sand. Too slow. I was too slow breaking the walls down. The giant kicked the front wall, sending debris scattering everywhere. 1 of which hit me in the fucking head.

I may be resistant to pain and wore a helmet, but that still fucking hurt. The concussive force of the impact of the kick had managed to send me 3ish meters back… on my ass. Everything became a blur. A minotaur with a round shield and spear charged at the giant only for the summoning staff to swipe the minotaur away like it was nothing. Looking back, I saw Alicia grasping her arm and Claritia was laying on the ground.

Motherfucker!

The sand that I had made, I used it. With wind magic, I brought the sand into the air. With 《Gust》, I scattered the sand everywhere. With 《Gale》 I brought strength to the winds. A 《Dust Storm》. A 《Tornado》. I blanketed the area with blindness. 《Wind Cutter》, 《Wind Blade》, 《Shock Wave》, 《Stone Shard》. I threw fucking everything at it. It hurt my girls so it needed to die.

Fixed. Focused. Concentration.

There was a nearby short sword a useless goblin had dropped. I picked it up with 《Electromagnetism》 and prepared my ultimate spell. A magnetic field was focused around my arm. Even blinded, I knew where this fucker was standing. I aimed the sword at where I believed the giant's head was.

“《Railgun》!” uncontained electricity arced in every direction. The short sword flew away from me and toward my target. The pained roar that echoed in the chamber confirmed that my attack was not fucking strong enough. It was not a real railgun. It was far too weak, far too slow. “Kami-fucking-dammit…”

The giant stomped wildly in an attempt to squash me, but only succeeded in killing its adds. A step on the edge of a collapsed wall caused it to lose balance. This was my chance. I pulled out 2 handfuls of 「Mana Stones」 and prepared myself. An opportunity to research my mana battery was always pushed back, but now was as good and desperate a time to test it.

“Anger. Fury. Wrath!” power flowed through me. Immense strength. I felt… I felt, “I feel… strong.”

Status Effects:

Fatigue (Severe)

Mana Exhaustion (Minor)

Dehydration (Minor)

Hunger (Minor)

Fear (Major)

Concussion (Minor)

Bleeding (Minor)

Rage (Severe)

Berserk (Minor)

The giant regained its footing and stood in front of me; a monument of flesh and terror. The sandstorm had already dissipated and the fires to the sides were gone. The smoke and darkness still obscured its face, but I knew… I knew it was just as pissed off as I am.

《Flame Thrower》? 《Tornado》? 《Fire Tornado》? I need to burn it. Burn the oxygen and choke it. Burn the… bodies and let the ash smother its lungs. Burn everything.

A volley of daggers came from behind me and struck the giant. Though it probably did little to no damage, it still somehow staggered the behemoth. I looked down at its feet and saw the corpses of the ossians scattered around. With my fists full of 「Mana Stones」, I unleashed a wave of fire at the bodies.

Unrelenting.

My 《Flamethrower》 spread far and wide turning bodies into ash. Flames and smoke rose up to the giant. Roars and coughs vibrated the stones and our bodies. But my mind was clear, clear in the rage that I proffered to the giant. I wanted it dead. I wanted it chocked. I wanted it burned.

Flames grew and grew and grew. The brightness blinding. The heat, I felt no heat but my own fury. Wind and flames circled the giant: 《Fire Tornado》. The winds picked up the ash and contained the smoke where I wanted. Into its face. Into its mouth. Into its lungs. Breathing deep to suffocate.

“Agony! Torment! Pain!” my screams were carried by the wind and fire and smoke and ashes. From my hands, a glittering dust fell. The 「Mana Stones」 I held became broken and useless. Turning into dustiness of sand and glass. But I was rewarded with an earthquake as the giant fell to the ground. My flames sputtered into nothingness, but small fires still engulfed a few corpses. It was still enough for me to see the giant as I walked toward it.

Its skin was blackened and charred. As far as I can see, its body was severely burned. 3 of my minotaurs had followed me to the giants head. I could hear it breathing. Gasping for air. Dry rasps begging for relief. The minotaurs helped me climb onto the chest where I struggled to stand. Each breath was a small quake on its own.

Onto the face I climbed with help from a minotaur that had climbed up as well. The skin on which I stepped on was charred and cracked. The right eye which I had taken my 1st shots at was ruined and seeped fluid. Its remaining eye looked at me with a glassy haze with its eyelids not fully burned away, but unable to move. I turned to look behind and had my minotaur hand me its spear then returned to face the giant eye.

“Your soul… is mine.” the spearhead was held above the eye. Unstable electricity arc around my body. I focused the magnetic field aiming downward, “《Railgun》” soon as the words left my lips, the spear left my hands. The last remaining eyeball exploded as if a bowl of pudding had been shot by a bullet. The body convulsed slightly, nearly knocking me off. The minotaur, who had been escorting me, kept me stable.

“I am the greatest.”

That was the last I remember seeing as exhaustion overwhelmed me.

☘ ☘ ☘

『1st Wall – Northeast』

The caravan of the summoned had moved with a hastened pace. Numerous vehicles were being escorted by 2 army units made up of a cohort of Virago and a centuria of Evocati. With a forced march, they were already halfway to Vaticano from Aventine. The carriage the summoned were currently riding was similar to that of Naoki's modified luxury carriage known as a carpentum. Chad looked out the window and observed the people they had passed, taking note of the relatively quick pace they were setting.

“If we're going to spend 5 months at whatever it's called, why are we rushing to get there?” he asked no one in particular.

“Princess said she wanted to get there quickly. Never said why though.” Liam, who was sitting next to him, answered.

Outside the carpentum, Chad could see multitudes of people of different status and professions moving about their day. What annoyed him the most was seeing similar banners that Naoki wore at the Colosseum. Merchants and adventurers were the most obvious. Images of scales and coins to various animal shapes imprinted onto the banner. It was slowly becoming popular. Even a passing contubernium was seen with an eagle on their banner.

“Fucker stole our thunder. Just watch, we'll be the popular ones once we save these people.” Chad grumbled under his breath.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +145』

『Maze X - 10th Floor Lord's Chamber』

I awoke seeing Alicia looking down at me. Her smile was comforting, as was the feel of her thighs on which my head rested on. To my right was a naked and sleeping Claritia clinging to my also naked body. The rest of my senses came back and I realized I was laying on a nice and comfy bed while surrounded by 《Earth Walls》. Seeing that I was completely aware, Alicia recapped what had happened.

When the giant had kicked the wall, the shock wave and debris knocked out almost everyone. Lavinia was unharmed, save for a few scratches, but her bow was broken and relied on wind spells to attack; it did nothing to the enemy ossians. Crixus was hit in the head like I was, but with a bigger piece of rock which rendered him unconscious; probably ended up with a concussion. Alicia had broken her arm and Claritia had broken ribs. Claritia worked hard to heal everyone she could.

The minions had taken the brunt of the debris. All the goblins except for 1 was killed. The surviving goblin slowly bled out and eventually died before Claritia could heal it. All but 2 orks were killed. Most of my minotaurs had survived; 6 of them. Only 3 had severe wounds, but was healed. The other 3 were the ones who had backed me up.

Once the giant was killed, everyone who could move got to work in clearing the area. Bodies were collected while Alicia, Claritia and a few minotaurs kept me safe. Alicia took the body of the giant in 1 of my bags. Despite its size, it only took up a single slot.

“Now that you're awake,” Alicia said while rubbing her sleeping legs, “it's time for you to collect your loot. And yes, we already tried activating it each day, but it wouldn't open.”

I stretched my body and felt the soreness from fatigue. This woke Claritia up who gave me a kiss before getting dressed. I looked over to Alicia who was drinking coffee, “My medication?”

“I kept you medicated and we took turns keeping you 'mana'cated.” she smirked while licking her lips.

I gave her a disdainful look at the pun which was as bad as my jokes.

“Fuck you, onii-chan. That was clever. I spent 3 days thinking it up.” she blew passed me and started putting the bed we were laying on in her bag.

After getting dressed and stepping outside the makeshift room, I was greeted by Lavinia and Crixus. They explained the problem with the treasure chest in which it was large. Very large. When I had scoped it before my fight with the giant, the scale of the its body and the distance had played an optical trick on me. It was the size of a small RV. The surviving minotaurs and orks, who were sitting down and eating, followed to assist.

The minotaurs had dragged the 《Earth Walls》 from the fort all the way to the treasure chest to use as platform. The lid of the chest was so heavy that it took Alicia using her conjured shields to use as a wedge and the minotaur's strength to lift. It was apparent that this particular chest was never meant for humans. I did remember the staff that the giant had pulled out before the fight began. It had lifted it with ease.

Before I took my turn to grab my loot, I checked my stats.

「Quest Complete: 【Maze X】 |

Information: Something forgotten lurks deep within the lower depths of Maze X.

Rewards: 500,000 stored Mana, Giant's Drink」

Achievements:

Gigantoss Slayer:

Skill Point Gain:

Killed 1 Gigantoss +25,000 Skill Points

(First of its kind)

Equinoss Slayer:

Killed 1 Equinoss +700 Skill Points

(First of its kind)

Killed 7 Equinoss +490 Skill Points

Ursoss Slayer:

Killed 1 Ursoss +750 Skill Points

(First of its kind)

Killed 2 Ursoss +150 Skill Points

Tauross Slayer:

Killed 19 Tauross +1,330 Skill Points

Orgoss Slayer:

Killed 4 Orgoss +200 Skill Points

Cyclops Slayer:

Killed 1 Cyclops +500 Skill Points

Health:

708↑/2000

Stamina:

34↑/5000

Mana:

4994↓/5000

Life Force:

5000↑/5000

Strength:

64 → 65

Intelligence:

44 → 45

Precision:

77 → 78

Wisdom:

49

Dexterity:

52 → 53

Willpower:

47 → 48

Endurance:

60 → 66

Perception:

75

Toughness:

46 → 49

Charisma:

37

Resistance:

37 → 38

Luck:

70 → 71

Health Recovery:

50

Stamina Recovery:

50

Mana Recovery:

50 (+20)

Life Force Recovery:

50

Skill Points:

12,775 → 41,895

Stored Mana:

554,526

Status Effects:

Fatigue (Major)

Dehydration (Minor)

Hunger (Major)

Concussion (Minor)

Minions:

6 Tauross

2 Orkoss

0 Goblins

Apparently I had successfully used《Consume Soul》 on the giant before I had passed out. Also, apparently it is called a 'Gigantoss'. I guess it can be good enough to sound like gigantes to sound less stupid. Does not help that centaurs and the bear monster is called-

Holy shit, that's a lot of skill points.

That should max out like 4 attributes. There was no way I should pass up this chance to cap my Luck and grab the loot. While it is pretty cheap early on to spend points in the attributes, it was also pretty easy to level up naturally. But getting near the cap becomes crazy difficult to level. If I want my Luck to go from 71 to 100, it would cost a total of 9,536 Skill Points. Which is what I did it. I excused myself behind a wall to pull out my Grimoire and maxed out my Luck. Then I got curious about something.

“Luck. Fortune. Serendipity.” I activated my 《Mantra of Fortune》 and took a peek of my stats. Luck: 110. The Grimoire was immediately despawned and we worked to open the treasure chest. It was unfortunate that I had forgotten my lucky amulet at the villa. A minor oops on my part.

While everyone had told me that they had received 3 to 5 chests each I, on the other hand, received an amazing 20 chests. Not just any chests, these were twice the size of my magic chests. They were also heavy as all fuck. I climbed into the treasure chest to gather them into my magic bag. It would get checked out later on. I wanted to leave this place soon and rejoin the caravan. It was almost an obvious that Veronica would be pissed at how long we have been gone.

Another thing I wanted to do was leave this place on a high note. Leave all the plebs in this city with an idiotic look on their faces. And to do that, I would use the giant I killed. We gathered in an open space and partially exposed the giant's head. The minotaurs were ordered to cut it off then I placed it back in the bag. When I asked, Alicia said the giant was around 50 feet tall; I had absolutely no idea how tall that was.

We entered the secret passageway which lead to the 1st floor.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +148』

『Vaticano』

An army passed through the gates of Vaticano. There was nothing exceptional about this as numerous legionary cohorts enter the city every few months. What caught the eyes of the populus was the fact there were women soldiers that made up the bulk of the cohort. By ancient law, no woman is ever allowed to become a legionary; there were no laws on becoming an adventurer, however. But to see so many women as soldiers only meant 1 thing. An extraordinary exception, not legionary but auxilia: Auxilia Virago.

While the emperor had control of the Praetorian Guard, the empress would have control of the Auxilia Virago. With the empress' passing years prior, the one to control the Auxilia Virago was the princess. In addition, a centuria of Evocati marched alongside the cohort and the caravan.

The populus was in a stir. This was the first time in many generations that a princess from the imperial family had visited Vaticano. Despite their curiosity, they were ignored. No words given. The caravan simply traveled the road toward the 「Dungeon Guild」.

They spent hours preparing for their 1st delve. Their lodgings were settled and would be at a distant taberna that was luxurious than the ones nearby. Their meeting with the guild master went smoothly and they became full-fledged adventurers. The evocati were to remain as their escorts and would construct a castrum as close to the guild as possible.

“The evocati will send a contubernium to assist you each time you delve into the dungeon. I will take your servants to the taberna and confirm your rooms. Are you sure you want to enter the dungeon immediately?” Minervina looked at the summoned who were preparing their weapons and armor.

“Yep,” Riley the Ignimancer said excitedly, “We've been training for months. We're itching to get some action!”

The others responded likewise.

Minervina and the high servants saw off the summoned before leaving. The summoned trekked into the depths of the elongated corridors and entered the main hub. They were astonished at the grandness of it. The fort in the center was an imposing yet comforting sight. The noise was almost festive. The noise seemed to come from the other end of the hub. Though their curiosity was piqued, they simple ignored it in favor of experiencing their first dungeon crawl.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Maze X – 1st Floor』

Days. It took fucking days climbing those god-forsaken stairs. Why the fuck are there no teleport pads?! Almost every game, almost every fiction has some kind of teleportation method of leaving a dungeon. So why? Why does it not exist in the fucking bullshit useless world?!

“Onii-chan, calm down,” Alicia held me close as she whispered in my ear, “I have a surprise for you when we get back to the villa. … … … god you stink.”

“Fuck off… ugh, I just want to go back to the villa and take a hot bath. Then leave this shitty city and meet up with Veronica. Oh my god, she is probably pissed that we're taking so long. Oh god I miss her.”

“She'll be fine. Look, the minotaurs are almost done.” she said… from a slight distance.

I looked over to the minotaurs that were lashed with ropes. The head of the giant behind them was connected to the numerous ropes. We would walk in front while they dragged the fucking thing behind us. If clearing the 10th labyrinth was such a big deal, then their minds will be blown to absolute fuck all with this giant's head.

As expected, people lost their minds at the sight of us. Then all of a sudden they went quiet once the minotaurs showed themselves followed by the head. It was amazing; their faces. Awe, fear, worship, more awe, inappropriate swooning, lots of awe. I felt like such a badass. Because I am. I am greatness incarnate after all.

After our walk of pride, we made it to the entrance of the guild. The doors were opened for us and the ruckus that was caused when the minotaurs walked through was still just as enjoyable. Just as we got to the line, Alicia turned to face me.

“Onii-chan, why don't you go to the villa first, we can handle things here and I have other business to take care of.” she took most of my magic bags that had bodies to be sold.

“Hm? Un, yeah, sounds good. I’ll order another carriage for you.” I replied to her. I remembered something just as I was about to leave, “Right, I’ve changed my mind about the minotaurs. I’m keeping them. Sell the orks though.”

☘ ☘ ☘

Alicia watched as her husband left. Her attention was turned to the receptionists at the counter; 4 of them. While the normal 2 were busy at the counter, she was more interested in the 2 behind them who were busy with paperwork. No matter what country; no matter what world, there was always office gossip. She had to strain her ears as they spoke in a quiet whisper. Despite the earlier commotion that caused the guild lobby to become noisy, it had become quiet from the intimidating aura of Alicia and the minotaurs.

“She has been missing for 2 weeks. The guards had checked the insula she lived in and found nothing strange.” 1 receptionist whispered to the other.

“There were whispers that she has been seen at the Vaticanii estate. Now many people have gone missing. There was a disturbance that no one knows much of and she might have been involved.” replied the other receptionist.

Alicia heard this exchange and lightly smiled.

Hours had passed as the bodies were being dealt with to be tallied by the appraisers. While Lavinia, Crixus and Claritia were busy with the dirty work, Alicia was sitting in front of the guild master.

“You said you had something important to discuss?” the guild master said as he admired the young girl who had conquered the 10th Maze.

“Have you ever heard of a leaderboard?”

☘ ☘ ☘

Saya flew into my arms as soon as I walked through the door; Illyria was close behind her. With shared kisses, lots of kisses, so much kissing. They have really become such great kissers. We went straight into the bath. Both girls greedily scrubbed and washed my body; hands were everywhere. Illyria, without needing to be ordered, took me in her mouth. Her sucking felt so good that I would not last very long. Saya was not left out as our tongues were busily fighting; she was winning.

The stone slab that one would lay on to be massaged, I had both girls bend over and lean on it. Saya was the shorter of the 2, she had to stand on tiptoes for me to reach her. The warmth I felt as I slid inside her was so indescribably delicious. It really only took me a few minutes to fill her pussy with cum. There was always something fascinating about the way cum would ooze from their pussy as I pulled out. Next was Illyria. When I stepped behind her, I realized there was the house servant bent over the slab.

When did she get here?

I was so engrossed in getting myself fulfilled that I had not noticed her sudden arrival. She did not even look at me. The girl, whose name I have never even learned, was just looking straight forward whilst bent over and waiting for her turn. It reminded me of a western saying about a gift whore and her mouth. Absolutely had no idea how it was supposed to go. But I had to mind the task at hand; filling Illyria with my dick.

No matter how many times we have had sex, she was so amazingly tight. While I no longer struggle with my initial penetration, I still had difficulties in lasting long. Even after cumming inside her, I still slid back and forth. Even after recovering my stamina with potions, it was still pretty low. It was best to finish up so I could take a bath and not pass out in the water.

I pulled myself away from Illyria and stood behind the house servant. Just like Saya, she was on her tiptoes. She was probably a few centimeters taller than Saya. My hands were placed on her ass and spread her cheeks. It was like butter when I slowly slid myself inside her. There was no resistance, just a soft sigh as I was scraping her pussy. Once I was fully buried inside her, I leaned over her and kissed her shoulder.

“What's your name?” I asked her as my hands squeezed her breasts.

“Delia, Dominus. Please enjoy this one's body.” she replied with a moan.

And I did. I enjoyed her body until I filled her pussy with whatever leftover drips I had left. The 4 of us relaxed in the hot waters of the bath.

☘ ☘ ☘

The bath was so relaxing that I nearly dozed off in the water. The servants had to help me stand and dry me off. And now we were in a nearby room on an accubita, a roman dining couch. It is so weird that these people have the concept of modern couches and modern dining tables, but still stick with this anachronism. I was just using it like a bed with my head on Saya's thighs as she fed me grapes from the vine, Illyria was between my legs giving me fellatio and Delia was massaging me. Absolutely lovely.

I deserve this.

Though the grapes still had seeds and were bitter. I still ate it because I was too lazy to care. And because I was used to the bitter taste of the painkillers. Every so often, Delia would feed me stamina potions with her mouth. I felt so spoiled and I loved every minute of it.

“Onii-chan, I’m back~… really?” Alicia appeared and witnessed the state of my hedonism. She walked over to us and bent down, taking my dick into her mouth and bobbed her head a few times while sucking. Despite the fact that Illyria had just been doing the same and had her saliva coating it, she was unfazed. “You're so hard. I'm gonna take a shower then we're gonna have sex. I incest.” she left the room with Delia following behind.

She wasn't even trying with that one.

☘ ☘ ☘

Inside the office where we had keep all our important items, including the dungeon chests from every single dungeon crawl we committed, we both had our Grimoire out to synthesize different things; the quest reward for me and whatever Alicia said she needed. I was not really paying attention because…

“Onii-chan, onii-chan, oh my god, I’m cumming onii-chan!” her pussy clamped down around me as her orgasm came. The intensity of her squeezing me triggered my own and I began filling her with cum. I rested my body on top of hers and we locked lips. “I could feel you shooting inside me. I'm surprised you have any cum left after your orgy earlier.”

“You got me after I rested. Now I’m spent.” I said as I rolled off her to recover.

“Don't rest too long. I said I have a surprise for you.” she stood up as she said while grabbing a cloth to wipe between her legs. “Your thing's done.”

“Of course it is, I’ve been having sex all day.” I said as I gulped down another stamina potion.

“No, idiot onii-chan, your synthesis.”

I looked over at my Grimoire and saw a fancy looking retort. Like a scaled down version of the still I had made. After getting dressed, I went over to one of my chests to look for the appraisal plate. I had to sift through a bunch of weird items that I have no idea where it came from; lots of silverware. Once I found it, I gave the retort an appraisal: The Giant's Drink (Scaled down for User). It even said 'Scaled down for User'.

From the description it seems it is a retort, but a magical retort that converted blood into potions. Magic stones can be used to give various effects. I would give this to Veronica as a 'I'm so sorry we're late' gift.

After eating, which was sorely needed, Alicia pushed me into the bed room at the same time Claritia had returned having been out buying potions and other necessities. Alicia had me lay on my back while Claritia rode atop me. Watching her large breasts bouncing up and down was fascinating. After she had orgasmed, Delia came to clean me up before being ordered by Alicia to ride me.

Alicia crawled next to me and licked my ear. She was staring at the servant grinding her hips back and forth. “I've been having her fuck you while you were asleep since after our 1st dungeon crawl.”

“Fuck sake, is that why she always followed me around?” I was not angry, just surprised at hearing that.

“Haha, yep. I thought she was cute and made sure she good enough for you.” she giggled, thinking she was so clever. “Ah, but that isn't the surprise I was talking about. Don't cum yet because you'll be enjoying this.”

I did not feel Delia have her orgasm, but she unsteadily climbed off me. Before she went to a lay in a nearby bed, she leaned down to kiss me.

“She's so cute, right?” she gushed before turning to the door on the other side of the room, “Come.” at her command, the door opened and another servant walked inside. Completely naked.

The girl had deep purple hair mixed with an equally deep crimson-red hair. But the was not all. On top of her head were a set of triangular ears and following behind her was a tail, a bushy tail that wagged side to side. It was also the same color of her hair and she was stunningly gorgeous. Her skin was quite fair not like how Saya had snow white skin, but closer to Alicia when she had no tan.

She crawled onto the bed and sat atop me lap. I sat up so I may examine her more closely. My hands flowed through her long hair and rubbed her fox-like ears. Her bushy tail wagged uncontrollably as she purred. She had no human ears like I had thought. There were also 2 cute fangs that were easily seen. She was so unbelievably cute. Her chest was a bit flat, but that did not bother me at all.

“Her name is Sidony and she doesn't really talk much. I’ve had Illyria and Saya take turns in training her to be your servant. She's a fox girl.” Alicia whispered in my ear.

“Oh my gosh.” it was my turn to gush.

I had the fox girl turn around so I could inspect her, um, tail. The tail was long and bushy; so much fluffiness. It was at least as long as she was tall. Her butt was small and cute and in between was 2 pink holes. I bent down to give her a lick and enjoyed the taste of her pussy. Then I had her return to sitting on my lap once again and kissed her, snaking my tongue in her mouth. She was an absolutely terrible kisser. Completely passive, not moving her tongue or lips.

She was pulled up over me and I positioned myself in place. I nudged her down, slowly sliding myself inside her. She was so hot as she surrounded me. I was burning up so much that as soon as I was fully inside her, I came. It felt as if a pint's worth flowed through me and into her.

Fuck it, I want more of her.

I pulled Sidony off of me and pushed her on the bed on her hands and knees. She had full control of her tail as she moved it out of the way and presented herself to me. Kneeling behind her, I lined myself up and plunged inside my adorable fox girl.

☘ ☘ ☘

Sidony lay naked in the fetal position in a corner of the bedroom. Her tail wrapped around her like a nature made body pillow. The soft and voluminous fur keeping her warm. The sound of the bedroom door opening caused her fox ears to twitch. Her eyes slowly opened, only to become strained in the soft glowing light that lit the room. She watched as 2 unknown women walked in and toward the bed.

The fox girl knew her position. She knew she had to protect her masters from these strangers. But it would be difficult. The pain from her first mating and her exhaustion had sapped away her strength. It was still her duty to stop the intruders. However, before she could move off the bed, Illyria had awoken from behind her and held her back with a single hand. Sidony turned her head around in confusion only to see Illyria moving a finger over her lips.

With this, Sidony trusted her trainer and warily relaxed on the bed and kept her eye on the unknown women. Both women removed their clothing and the smaller one was ordered to crawl between her master's legs and take his cock in her mouth. The taller woman became satisfied and ordered the smaller one away while she mounted her master for mating.

“She is master's wife,” Illyria whispered from behind Sidony, “this villa belongs to her family.”

When Minervina had satisfied her lust, she removed herself from Naoki and crawled behind Saya. Salina, having been instructed by Minervina, nervously climbed atop Naoki. She slowly pierced herself with his cock and felt her chastity tear away. Fighting through the pain, she worked herself to stimulate his cock until she felt a sensation of it twitching from within her.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +149』

“Blessed morning my beloved.” Minervina cooed as she embraced me.

My face was probably colored in surprise as I had not expected to see her so soon. Even her servant was with her. In bed. Naked. Next to me.

“Um, why is...”

“Salina.” Minervina answered.

“-Salina naked?” I asked as Salina drowsily made her way up to my face to give me a kiss before passing out from tiredness.

“We had sex with you last night.” Minervina was blunt in her words as she stroked Salina's hair. “I wanted to give her body to you as a gift. Alicia was right, you really cannot wake up from anything while you are asleep.”

Saya and Illyria entered the room with trays of food. We were fed while laying on the bed. The cute snoring girl cuddled beside me only added to the lazy atmosphere we had.

“Alicia has told me many other things. Taking new lovers, one of whom is a hykin. It is my first time seeing such a thing. Not only that, you earned the honor of being the first Gigantoss Slayer in over 600 years.” she took my face into her hands as she stared deeply into my eyes, “You are amazing.” her lips then met my own. “By the way, you also terrified my Virago soldiers with your taurossa that were in the stables.”

☘ ☘ ☘

I had intended to leave today, but with Minervina's surprise visit it might be better to put it off until tomorrow. We had spent the morning catching up and me flaunting my exploits in the dungeons. I also officially had sex with Salina while awake; it bothered me none that they had had sex with me while I was sleeping. I just did not enjoy how… chaffed I felt in the morning.

Before noon, I had alerted Minervina about Vaticanius and his connection with Umbrius and the rebel plot. We, of course, separated with her sending messengers to Aventine while I sorted our loot. Well, kinda. It was too bulky and too heavy to keep taking in and out of the magic bags. Absolutely no way I could sort it out in a day. But of the ones I did check: 1 chest had gold coins, 1 had magic scrolls and the last had various weapons.

Once I understood what those 3 chests contained, they no longer stacked onto the main stack of chests. Each one required an individual slot. Most of the bodies had been removed by Alicia to be sold to the guild so there was no problem with space. Interestingly, she had not sold the giant's body and head as well as a few of the other ossians; mostly tauross. Or taurossa, no idea. I have been operating under the assumption that it was both singular and plural and also mostly called it minotaur.

Maybe she wants it stuffed and mounted?

Whatever the case may be, I at least had a source of blood to test out the retort. Blood was harvested from a minotaur since I figured minotaur was cattle and therefore edible. With the blood inside the vessel, I fucked off to let it do its thing and went to the adventurer's room to drop off their chests.

I had need to speak with them, but they were out, with Alicia, collecting more supplies and the payment from the guild. The chests were removed and laid out in their room. Much of the room's space was taken up by the chests. I was also unsure if it would fit through the door due to its size, but I figured that was a them problem.

Returning to the office, I arrived to see that the first potion was done. A blood red liquid filled a glass vial. It had the scent of a typical potion and no trace of blood at all. The taste was that of a health potion. I was satisfied with this as we now had a new source of health potions. If there were more functions to this, I would simply have Veronica figure it out.

… The ringing in my ears stopped?

I actually felt really good right now. This was probably some kind of restoration potion as it had the same feeling as Claritia's restoration spell. The retort was refilled with more minotaur blood and left to do more of the thing while I started cleaning up the room.

☘ ☘ ☘

Alicia and the others had the idea to have a going away feast before they went off for supplies. A minotaur and a boarkin, whatever they are called, were to be roasted. Because Minervina had brought an army, we ended up setting numerous fire pits outside and cooked more than 20 ossians. About a tonne each of fruits and vegetables were used as well as 100 sacks of grain. The house servants were in a fray to keep everything running.

It was quite a feast.

Pinkface emerged from wherever it was hiding and kept wobbling at me to feed it. The minotaurs were omnivorous, but I was unsure if they would eat other minotaurs; they had no problem eating the boar ones… pigotaur? Susoss, scrofoss, porcoss, suidoss. So many different fucking names for them. We ate, the women soldiers ate, the servants ate. It was fun.

At a table sat Lavinia, Crixus, Claritia and myself. With departure set for tomorrow, we needed to clarify our plans. Of course I want Claritia to join me, but would she want to? What about the others?

“O-of course I wish to accompany you,” Claritia timidly spoke as she grasped my hand, “I am an adventurer. As adventurers, we seek experience beyond borders… and you have given me many experiences. I wish to have more with you.”

I smiled at Claritia and looked toward the other 2. Lavinia simply shrugged.

“We have known each other since childhood. We even grew up in the same insula. We were there when Claritia was born and we weren't there when the insula burned to the ground. We are the closest thing she has to family. We have always protected her and raised her as best we could. We even became adventurers to earn money to have her train in the 「Healer's Guild」.

“So, yes, we will accompany you.” both women hugged in tear-soaked smiles. It was all very heartwarming and fuzzy and all feel-goody.

“Well, now that this was settled, there is a cute kitchen girl with thighs as thick as hams.” Crixus chugged his cup of wine and slammed it down on the table before standing up and disappearing into the darkness of the night.

“Right, since this is our last night here...” Lavinia pulled away from Claritia and stood up, “there is a handsome guardsman with an interestingly curved cock that reaches a nice spot inside me. We'll see you in the morning.”

Minervina returned and joined us. She was completely frazzled having to deal with whatever was going on with the city.

“I will need to remain in this city longer than I had intended to deal with this new crisis.” Minervina sighed as she drank from a cup of undiluted wine.

As much as I wanted to stay and help her, I still had my debt to settle with Umbria and the emperor. At the very least, I could stay with her for the night.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +150』

“Princess,” Alicia spoke to Minervina privately, “I'd like to take the house servant with us. Is that fine?”

“Hm? Of course, it's a simple matter of visiting the courthouse and transferring ownership. We should go now so you may depart on time. It won't take long.” Minervina agreed to Alicia's request. Both walked to the nearby courthouse escorted by a Virago contubernium. As they walked, Minervina observed the surrounding populus returning curious stares rather than hostility.

☘ ☘ ☘

Salina had explained to me that Minervina would allow us use of the 2 carriages that had brought them here, which would later be returned. After cleaning up, I zipped up my pants and we rejoined the others outside. The 1st carriage would be my modified carriage with me, Alicia, Saya and Claritia riding it. The 2nd would have Lavinia, Crixus and Crixus' new servant. The last carriage would have Illyria, Sidony and Delia.

Alicia decided to bring her along with us. Thinking of which, we were only waiting for her and Minervina to return before we can leave. From the main gate, I saw them enter along with a few amazons. Alicia gave me a kiss before entering the carriage.

“Beloved,” Minervina approached and we embraced openly as we kissed, “we may not meet again immediately. I am awaiting word from father on how to deal with Vaticanius. I will send a centuria to follow and meet you in Umbria. They will be under your command just in case.” Within the walls of the imperial villa, Minervina held no reservation of our relationship. We held each other never wanting to let go.

“The Virago aren't slaves, if you wish to lay with them you will need to prove yourself; impress them.” she smirked as she reluctantly released me.

But I was not done with her. I pulled her into the carriage and pushed her onto the bed. The look on her face was that of surprise. Not because of my actions, which she had already expected, but for the coldness of the interior. She requested that her carriage be modified as well.

Once more, we very reluctantly separated ourselves and I returned to the carriage. I directed our heading to our driver as we left the gates.

“Onii-chan, that's east.”

“What, are you sure?”

“It's midday so there isn't any shadows, but we should be going that way.” she pointed to the opposite direction that we were facing.

“Okay, so if that is supposed to be north, then~ Nobody Enjoys Sovi… okay, yeah. We are going in the wrong direction.” we corrected our orientation and left the city.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +155』

『Naoki's Caravan』

“Master, this one must insist. Master should not lower herself to doing such a thing!”

“Stay still or you'll get nail polish all over.” Veronica, being bored out of her mind, was attempting to finish a pedicure for Cassia. Cassia, on the other hand, vehemently attempted to dissuade Veronica from performing such actions in which others would view as 'beneath them'.

Thanks to Naoki having left most of the alchemical supplies with the caravan, Veronica was able to use it for experiments beyond simple potions. With a base mixture of aqua limus and a 「Dye Stone」, she was able to devise a formula for nail polish. It was not without its own issues. A few failures included a tacky texture, non-drying, poor color saturation, poor adhesion and not having a way to remove it easily.

“Back in my world, my parents taught me and my sister about earning our own money. We went to a school that catered to students of wealthy families and they did not want us to be spoiled like most of them.” Veronica explained as she continued to paint Cassia's toenails, “so, for some pocket money, I would work part-time at a nearby nail salon. Okay, done, just let it dry.”

Cassia was thrilled at having her master favor her so. Though she was still upset that her master was performing tasks that would befit a servant. She still blushed wildly at every touch.

Just then a commotion could be heard outside the carriage.

“Riders approaching!”

“Fucking finally,” Veronica looked up with a relieved face, “they're back.”