Once Nyra told me how to break the curse, I changed my classes to set up my fighting style for this early morning monster subjugation. Right now, I have Brawler, Sage, Dark Mage, Cleric, and Nightblade set as my classes. I had done a lot of fighting since I got here, but I noticed that I haven’t used much magic and just relied on my martial skills with Nyra in hand to quickly farm EXP. I’m not sure if not using Nyra will affect how much I earn EXP, especially since Mametama and Kenaka will be doing most of the fighting, but it couldn’t hurt to try it out. I have been wanting to do something more fantasy-like than just cutting and stabbing shit like a normal person would for a while now … well, as ‘normal’ as it would get in this world, but you get the idea.

As part of my prep, Nyra pulled up my ‘log history’ and showed what achievements I made from my night with Kalline and Erizora.

[You have achieved the ‘Centaur’s Rider’ title!]

[You have now learned ‘Horse-Riding’ LV 1!]

[You have now reached ‘Vigorous Libido’ LV 50!]

[You have achieved the ‘Shameless Beast’ title!]

[You have now learned ‘Erection Control*’!]

[You have achieved the ‘Demonic Zoophile’ title!]

[You have now learned ‘Demonic Pheromones*’!]

The last notice stuck out to me the most, my new [Demonic Pheromones] skill. Ume mentioned I smell differently just before I left, smelling similar to a demon. She even advised me to watch myself around other demons than I normally have, especially for how they might behave. Just like she said, the Imp from the bread shop was being just as nice and personal, if not more so, than the people from Dondegarm, and I hadn’t done anything to gain such attention in Palocaesy yet. This new skill was the main culprit to these strange changes.

When I looked into the new skill further, it read that those from the Demon-Kin, specifically the opposite sex, would find me more appealing and attractive in an olfactory sense. This was thanks to my adjusted pheromones that the skill described to be ‘as concentrated as the ‘alphas’ among other male demons and intensifies as the females approach the user’s genitals.’ I understood ‘alphas’ were highly regarded among Werewolves, thinking back to Ren’s explanation on how their packs functioned, but I didn’t think this sort of thing could extend to other races in a different matter. Strength was considered as one of the higher personal values in Demon-Kin culture, so it may be possible the stronger demons emitted pheromones of a similar degree to attract potential partners. I guess if the Charm of my Internal Status wasn’t enough to win some demons over, then this skill would help the user make that happen.

I received [Demonic Pheromones] thanks to my [Demonic Zoophile] title, which I achieved ‘after having successful intercourse with more than three individuals from the Demon-Kin,’as noted in the description. Kalline just became the fourth demon I officially made as part of my harem last night, after Tyvera, Erizora, and Ren joined in chronological order. Ume couldn’t have counted because she was, of course, a dragon making herself off as a demon, so if I didn’t get this title until that requirement was breached, then it’d make sense for me to witness these effects today.

Thankfully, I can turn off my [Demonic Pheromones] skill like flipping a switch, which isn’t much different from how I used some of my sex-related skills up to this point. Still, if this skill will really help me win over demon girls and Ume was okay with me having some fun with them—as long as I tell her afterward, of course—then I wanted to see how well I can put this to use, so I decided to leave it on. Nyra was all for that plan, and I’d fill my familiars in with what I found later.

~~

“There it is, Palocaesy’s Dungeon. Wow, there’s already a line forming to get inside,” I pointed out when we finally got there. We then went right to the end of the line that was moving slowly as the guard on duty, an Orc, was letting us in.

Kenaka asked through [Telepathy].

Mametama followed.

I nodded,

Before I could question myself further, I felt something pressing into my hair. There was air getting sucked in and blown out from whatever was on my head. Two hefty weights were then placed on my shoulders, as if they were keeping me steady while whatever was on my head was doing its business. The weight applied to them was enough for me to put effort into just keeping myself standing. When I glanced at both my shoulders, I saw large, yellowish-brown paw-like hands that reminded me of Kenaka’s feet.

“*Inhaled deeply before sighing in kind.* Such a nice scent … let me smell it some more,” a woman with a tired-sounding, laid-back tone said behind me.

“Uh, may I help you, ma’am?” I asked, uncertain of what else to say in this scene.

“Hmm? … Huh? W-Whoa, I am so sorry about that,” she said tiredly before pulling back. With this opening, I turned around to see the strange new person behind me, only to find myself staring directly into her massive tits—not so big to be on Erizora’s scale in size, mind you, but they were a pretty close second from the look of it. I had to tilt my head up some just to see the face I was talking to.

The woman standing in front of me was large and tall, but not as big as Erizora. What’s more, Erizora was more ‘human-like’ in appearance, while this woman was like Ren possessing beastly limbs, but resembling more to a bear. It wasn’t just the claws that gave away her species, the top of her head had a pair of dirty blonde, round, fluffy ears poking out of her hair that was in a bedhead-like style. She was currently wearing minimal armor, with only an iron breastplate, matching shoulder pads, shin guards, and bracers for protection. There was only a loose crop top underneath the breastplate and I wasn’t sure [Redacted] With the brown short shorts being the only other article of clothing on her, this left her stomach totally [Redacted] In fact, her body seemed to have a softer, curvier frame that gave off cuddly vibes that contrasted with the intimidating size. It was far different from my ogre slave’s frame that was hardened and sculpted by her muscles. Despite how comforting the bear girl looked at first glance, I don’t think anybody could ignore the battle axe strapped to her back. I could make a few guesses to what class she may fall into with that weapon alone.

“I’m not used to getting up this early and I haven’t gotten much sleep, so I’m sorry if I’ve done or said anything weird,” the bear girl droned as she rubbed her eyes and tried blinking herself awake before looking down, “... Whooooooa, a human? Not many of those around these parts. Weird, I thought I smelled a demon earlier … but your scent is still nice for a human though. Are you here to take on the dungeon too?”

“Um … thanks? And yes, I’m going to do some morning practice in the dungeon with my—”

“Hold on, is that a bear cub familiar standing next to you?” the bear girl interrupted, pointing to Kenaka with widened eyes.

I nodded, “Yes. His name’s Kenaka, and this is my cougar cub familiar, Mametama.”

The bear girl squatted in front of my bear cub familiar, “You’re so cuuuuuute. May I pet you?”

“... Just be gentle about it, please,” Kenaka requested, averting his gaze.

Mametama teased through [Telepathy] as the bear girl gently pet Kenaka’s head.

the bear cub retorted.

“So, are you here to take on the dungeon too?” I asked the bear girl to change the subject.

Satisfied with her pets, the bear girl stood back up and scratched her head, “Yeah. I’m honestly holding a spot for my party right now while they get everything ready … at least, that was the plan after I drew the short straw last night. Knowing them, though, they’re gonna take longer to get ready before coming up with my breakfast. The person letting people into the dungeon won’t let us hold up the line too long to wait for other party members to arrive before we all go in, so I’d have to go all the way back to the end of the line to start over if they don’t come sooner … and now, not only am I tired, but I’m hungry after mentioning food too.”

Yikes. That’s a bummer … hold on, I thought before discreetly reaching into my [Storage] and pulled out the paper bag the breadshop imp girl gave me. The loaf of bread I was given was much bigger than I expected and I didn’t want to stock up on it too much before breakfast with my own party, so I only ate about less than half and drank the whole bottle of milk before we made our way to the dungeon, thinking I might have more later as a bit of a snack in between training.

With this bear girl being bigger than me, though, she’d probably need more energy than I do, so I tore off a piece of the loaf from the end for myself before holding out the rest to her, “Here, take the rest of this. It may not be much, but hopefully it will help you get by a little longer.”

“Whooooa, thanks! You’re a lifesaver!” she said while taking the bread and before eating it ravenously. Despite the rest of my loaf still being so big, it was gone within a minute. She hummed in delight while rubbing her bare stomach. The gesture seemed sexy to me and I couldn’t help but stare for a bit.

“So, is it only you and your familiars going into the dungeon, or are you waiting for others too?” the bear girl then asked, “I’ve heard this is one of the more difficult dungeons for most humans. Will you be okay?”

“... Huh?” I responded before shaking my head in realization, “Oh, no, it’s just the three of us going in, and I’ll be fine. Even if I went in on my own, I’ve fought solo enough to know how to watch my own back.”

“Hmmmmm …” the bear girl hummed while tilting her head in thought, crossing her arms to where [Redacted] “I can hold myself in a fight too, but I’d rather not be alone if I could help it … I know, what if you come with me and my party?”

I blinked in surprise, “Is that really okay?”

She nodded, “Sure. Two or more adventuring parties joining together for quests isn’t uncommon, and the same can be said for dungeon crawling. Everyone in my party are demons, but they tend to go at their own pace without caring for the other, but they’re mostly okay people. For you to be out here and even sharing your food with me, you seem like a good guy, and I think I can trust you. I can even vouch for you if some of them are in disagreement, so what do you say?”

I waved a hand with an apologetic smile, “I appreciate the offer, but I’m kind of on a schedule for today and I’m not planning on going down very far.”

I tried to be gentle with the decline, but the real reason why is so I don’t reveal too much of my capabilities to outside parties. This is especially so when the Demon King somehow knows I’m in the very country she rules over, and I can’t ignore the possibility that one of her agents or something is currently watching me. For all I knew, as chill and cute this bear girl seemed, she could very well be one of them while putting on an act.

Nyra admitted, referring to her altered memories,

“Hmm, that’s a shame. I’d like to have you around, but I can’t really force you, so I’ll stop pushing the subject. Still, I should repay you for the food—and make up for the weird moment earlier—is there anything I can do that would make us even?” she asked.

“Actually, I’m still pretty green to dungeon crawling, so if you could give some tips on that and what I should know about this dungeon in particular, I think that would really help,” I said. I was just thinking about asking someone about this subject, too, so the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

The bear girl seemed for the idea as she smiled and nodded eagerly, “Sure, I can do that. Oh, and before I forget, I’m Rizz of the Werebears.”

To try and stay vigilant, I was careful with how much info I gave to the bear monster girl, Rizz, while sticking out a hand for a shake, “Kotori. It’s nice to meet you, Rizz.”

“Likewise,” she greeted while taking my hand with her bear-like claw.

From there, Rizz gave me the rundown of Palocaesy’s Dungeon and dungeon crawling in general as we waited for our turns in line. She yawned occasionally in between, which made me wonder how much sleep she got if she was this tired. When I asked, she said she only had eight hours of sleep last night, which was the recommended time humans should take back on Earth. For Rizz, however, she usually slept for twelve, at max. I questioned if this sleep pattern was healthy, but considering Raiza’s time is so different from Earth’s, it might make sense for people of the former to sleep more if they’re awake longer. Not only that, Rizz wasn’t even human, so the amount of time she needs to sleep might be completely different to even other demons. I briefly wondered if Rizz actually hibernated over winter like normal bears would, but thought best to not bring up the question and come off as rude.

By the time it was close to my turn, Rizz had to start letting people cut in front of her so she wouldn’t get sent to the back of the line again while waiting for the rest of her party. She wished me the best of luck and hoped to see me again down in the dungeon soon. I returned the same feelings as I was starting to like this girl, but reminded myself to not get too close too quickly.

Unfortunately, other than that strange smelling moment, it didn’t look like my [Demonic Pheromone] skill did anything too noticeable on Rizz’s behavior. Maybe the effect differs between girls and I was seeing a side of her that wasn’t normally seen by others, but I couldn’t be sure and there weren’t any other girls in the line to test the skill on. I’d have to see if my harem behaves differently after being exposed to the effects of my skill the first time when I get back.

Finally, by the time it was my turn, the Orc that was standing at the post eyed me with suspicion. He asked for my name, whether I was an adventurer, and to see my adventurer’s ID if I answered ‘yes’ on the second question. Though it seemed accusing, I saw him do the same with the demons before me, so this was more out of protocol than human discrimination. I asked if I had to show him my ID to get inside, and he said no. Anybody could get in the dungeon, really, but the procedure was more for keeping a mental note on who went inside and what to look for should something happen. We were pretty much on our own for being safe and not getting injured in the dungeon, much less killed. I didn’t want to arouse attention by flashing my black-ranked adventurer’s card, so I declined his last request and he didn’t argue any further on the subject.

Once I was given the okay, my familiars and I took our first steps into one of Raiza’s several dungeons in the world.