The healing fountain room was a sanctuary from enemy attacks and the claustrophobic lighting of the tunnels alike. Both were welcome, but the former was more important.

Apexus retrieved the key resting between the parallel bones of his forearm. As it passed through the membrane, the slime retreated from the surface of the ornate key, guided by the central will emanating from the nucleus. The humanoid chimera turned it in his hands, making sure it remained as immaculate as ever. Rust did not affect the heavy key. Any dirt that accumulated would have been a sign of lacking care.

Nodding, satisfied, Apexus pushed the key into the air. To everyone’s relief, it partly disappeared, soon spawning the golden lock and outline that marked the creation of the passage. The door fully manifested and swung inside.

The window that usually showed the weather had been changed into the same kind of veiny texture the dungeon walls had. Otherwise, the inside of the Mobile Estate was entirely unchanged. “We shall not touch the water skins unless direly necessary,” Aclysia announced, while Korith got her fill from the refilling vase.

This was another issue with having Korith in the party. Where Apexus and Reysha could drink the water of the healing fountain without any issue, Korith would gradually be poisoned by the mana of the dungeon in the water. Some was manageable and in a pinch the water could be brought to a boil to remove some of the harmful energies. To rely on it alone would inevitably have dire consequences.

Having access to the water from the Mobile Estate would alleviate the issue. They still required a safe space in order to access their home. No healing fountains for several days would be an issue. Crawling a dungeon was never without issues though.

“Ya ever think about giving this place a more interesting name?” Reysha asked, after returning from the latrine. “Mobile Estate is super dull.”

“It is accurate,” Apexus stated.

“Hoard Home!” Korith declared immediately.

Aclysia softly shook her head and sighed. “I would prefer not dedicating our permanent dwelling to a god only one member of our party follows.”

“Mordekainen’s Magnificent Mansion,” Reysha suggested.

“Mobile Estate is still perfectly accurate?” Apexus repeated himself. The three women in the room glanced at him for a moment.

“Darling, accuracy is not sufficient, beauty is important and there is beauty in names.”

The humanoid chimera tilted his head in thought, before slowly nodding. He sat down on the bed. The frame creaked under his weight, the straw under the blanket gave a bit. Had it not been for the refreshing aspects of their to-be-renamed home, the plant fibres would have been lain through in little time.

“What’s a Mordekainen and why should we name our home after him?” Korith squeaked.

“Some Wizard or Bard, I honestly don’t remember. Never was one to listen much to folk tales that didn’t involve someone getting stabbed or earning absurd amounts of money.” Reysha rolled her neck. “We sticking to the funny alliterations or what the fuck are we doing for theming?”

“I am personally fond of the repeating starting letters,” Aclysia hummed in agreement. “Perhaps we should begin with another question: do we wish to give our party a name?”

“Hoard’s Hunters!” Korith declared, this time with a bit of a smile on her face. No one laughed. “Awww, I thought self-deprecation was the highest form of humour?”

“Only when my careless ass does it,” Reysha weighed in. “Anyway, I don’t see why not. If we’re going to deal with the guild in the future, might as well have a shorthand, right?”

“Apexus’ Harem would be a factual statement,” Aclysia suggested.

“…can’t even tell if you're joking or not, bubble butt.”

The metal fairy blinked a couple of times, before curiously tilting her head. “Why would I be joking? We are all darling’s women, there is nothing funny about that. It’s a rather enjoyable state of affairs, is it not?”

“Point taken. I think you’d kill Korith if we called ourselves that though.” The tiger girl gestured at the kobold who tried to hide her embarrassment by chewing on some stag jerky. “Maybe something like ‘the gluttons’?”

“A cardinal sin is not a name for a respectable party.”

“Are we respectable?” Reysha laughed and waved off when Aclysia shot her a concerned glance. “Alright, how about ‘Deep Travellers’? We do go in pretty deep – especially the big guy.”

“Please stop with your innuendos.”

“Nah.”

Aclysia gave it a moment’s thought. “I would suggest only using ‘the travellers’ but such a generic name would not be recognizable. The name of a party should be recognizable and convey what their primary objectives are.”

“Evolutionists?” Apexus suggested from his contemplative silence. “We aim to become stronger. To grow. Evolve,” he elaborated.

“Not an entirely wrong approach, although the ring of it does not match my taste,” Aclysia confessed.

“The Apotheosis,” Reysha suggested with a dry chuckle. “Yeah, I know, bad taste. Ignore me.”

“H-how about Change Seekers?” Korith suggested. “It kinda works with the evolution idea… and it’s a money pun. It’s the whole package!”

“Eh, it's not the best, but it’d do for me,” Reysha said.

“It will suffice,” Aclysia agreed.

Apexus just nodded and so the name was set. There was nothing stopping them from changing the name at a later date. It was just a shorthand to introduce themselves.

“Then… for this place… Change Mansion?” Korith followed up with another suggestion.

That worked equally as well.

_______________________________________________________________________

They advanced deeper and deeper into the almost literal guts of the earth. The network of dense tunnels became interspersed with large chambers. Fibres expanded and contracted in tandem to the ever present beat of the distant heart. They held the pulsing light inside them for seconds at a time, before sending it further up through the tunnels.

The shifting ground was covered in a thin layer of viscera. The soles of their boots and naked feet were stained red. Underneath every step, the ground shifted, fibres stretching and relaxing. The rhythmic difference between firm and soft was alien.

Korith leapt over a fold in the ground, with Reysha soon to follow. It opened into a gap, while Aclysia hovered across. With a disdainful face, she landed back on the soaked floor. She hated the red that soaked into her deep blue robe. She turned her head to wait for her darling.

Apexus waited for the rift to close again. Over the course of a few seconds, the crevice clamped down, like a slowly clasping mussel. To find oneself between the walls was bound to crunch some bones.

The Monk walked across when it was most expedient. He raised a hand, letting the magic he fed into his crystal fingernails serve as a light that shined even when the red from the walls pulsed elsewhere. It was brighter than Aclysia’s spell and his ki was less valuable than her mana.

The viscera pooled together in front of them. Blood wove into muscle fibre and bones. The deeper they got into the dungeon, the more manifest the serpents had become. The one in front of them was less liquid than any that had come before. The ribs made up most of the exterior, red strings connecting them and hiding the spine. Only the head appeared to be mostly liquid still. The maw parted, revealing two rows of sharp, curved teeth and a claw-like secondary maw deeper within.

The Bloody Serpent rushed towards Reysha, its head so far above that its empty eye sockets drifted straight over the kobold. A fact the shortstack immediately punished, shooting upwards and ramming her entire body into the thick body of the enormous creature.

Its body forced to curve, the jaws of the monster were pulled back just before they could snap close around Reysha’s head. The Rogue’s claws swiped through the air, missing where the head had just been a moment prior. The creature reared back.

Apexus rushed to the front line. He had to leap to grab the monster by the jaw. The lack of footing made him a helplessly flailing accessory to the Bloody Serpent’s jaw, as it thrashed to throw him off. The rest of the party could only watch, the intensity of the monster’s motions making it impossible to approach unharmed.

Time lost was time bought. Where Korith and Reysha could only watch, Aclysia drew back her arm. A loud crackle and an explosion of light announced the creation of a Solar Lance. The spiralling magic fed back into itself, jittering with each second it was kept in check. Carefully, the angel aimed, and then let it fly.

Muscles sizzled, bone dried, blood turned into powder, as the Lance tore a hole through the serpent. The lower three-quarters of its body suddenly became inert. What hadn’t been affected directly by the spell went into a death spasm. Confused nerves spasmed, exhausting what energy still laid in the system. The liquid parts of the body oozed out between the solid ones, a messy display of crimson.

So much of its body missing, the rest of the Bloody Serpent fell to the ground. The humanoid chimera beat his wings once, creating enough upward force that he landed on his knees rather than his butt. Jumping back to his feet swiftly, he dodged one last attempt by the dismembered serpent to bite him. Then, a foot of light grey colour crushed its head.

The monster continued to move, but it had no eyes to see nor jaws to bite with. Apexus grabbed it by the neck, while Reysha hurried over and sank her energy-enveloped claws into the serpent’s skull. When she ripped out the lemon-sized core, it finally stopped moving.

“These are becoming more of a pain,” Reysha crooned, tail and hips swinging.

“Why do you sound so happy about that?” Korith asked.

“Because I am,” she hummed.

Aclysia was too busy giving everyone the once-over to comment on that. “No injuries,” she reported, tension draining from her body from those two words alone. She glanced up at the ceiling. “This lighting annoys me.” In the red light, spotting injuries was difficult. Everything looked red and the splattering crimson did her no favours. She lowered her gaze to find Apexus raising his hand upwards. “Is something the matter, darling?”

“I was too small,” the humanoid chimera told her what was on his mind. “Too light. I am considering growing.”

“…yes, please…” Korith whispered.

“Can ya not be a size queen for three seconds?” Reysha asked.

Aclysia and Korith were both taken aback. “Did you just chide someone for their sexual preferences?” the angel asked.

“…Oh, by the Hellroots, what have I become?!” the tiger girl dramatically stared at her hands. She snapped out of it immediately and tossed her wild, red hair over her shoulder. “No, but seriously, if you want to, go right ahead Apexus. It takes you out of kissing range though.”

A displeased rumble echoed from his chest. He proceeded to take what of the monster corpse was edible and added it to his biomass. It wasn’t enough, on its own, to facilitate the change. The stores wrapped around his core were enough to make up the difference.

Consolidating his mass again, after absorbing the elongated body of the serpent, Apexus stood a good fifteen centimetres taller. Where Aclysia and Reysha had previously made it up to his ears, they now barely reached his chin. His width had increased accordingly, keeping his proportions and looks intact.

Korith shifted happily from one leg onto the other. The more she had to tilt her head back, the more into it she was. He was now almost twice her height.

Aclysia and Reysha mustered him critically. The body of their lover was built for their mutual enjoyment and his height being limited had its reasons. “That’s not too bad,” the tiger girl said.

“I’m torn,” the angel confessed and squeezed her darling’s upper arm. The added bulk was something to behold, but that she couldn’t reach him for kisses even if she got on her toes was a travesty.

With one possessive motion, the now truly giant hulk of man grabbed the metal fairy by her cushy behind and raised her up. The kiss that she craved now came alongside being lifted by his paw. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on, while tongues whirled.

Apexus released her when he had satisfied their immediate craving, only to be besieged by the other two haremettes. First Reysha, then Korith, he helped them reach his lips. At the end, he held both in his arms simultaneously. “This isn’t so bad,” the tiger girl purred.

“It’s a combat decision,” Apexus reminded them.

“Doesn’t have to stop there… well, ya can decide after we get out of here.” Reysha dropped the little distance out of his arms. “We’ll fuck first before you change back though. You were tall before but by the Hellroots now you’re just giant.”