Random Portals

“Master, who is that?”

Steven could hear the disdain in her voice.

“You’re not supposed to be speaking, remember?”

“Sorry Master, though you said it would probably be best if I didn’t speak and did not give me a direct order.”

Steven turned to look at Nev with narrowed eyes. “I’ll be sure to not make that mistake in the future. Now don’t move and be quie...” Eve grabbed Steven in a hug.

“I’m so glad you are okay!” Eve said.

Steven could feel Nev’s glare on his back as he hugged her back.

“I’m glad you’re okay as well.” Steven said.

The next moment, Eve yelped and let go. Steven turned to see two naked drones holding swords at Eve.

“My King, do not worry, we will protect you!”

“W-Whaaat.” Eve stammered.

“And what makes you think I need protection?” Steven asked before turning to Eve. “I’m sorry, theses guys can be a bit simpleminded.”

“Did they just call you King?”

“Uh, yeah, it’s a long story.” Steven said as he narrowed his eyes at drones.

“My King, it’s just we realized our Queen was being held in place by some unseen force and couldn’t protect you. So we…”

“Thats enough,” Steven turned to Nev, she did look like she was about to explode, he figured it was the whole hugging part that really caused the issue, “Nev, this is Eve, Eve this is Nev, I imagine you two will get to know each other quite well over the following days.”

“My King, the Queen wishes to express her discomfort of not being able to protect you properly while standing so close to someone while she is forbidden to move.”

Steven turned to the drone. “Oh, does she now? First off, you lot need to go find some clothes. I saw some laying back in the previous dungeon room we were fighting in. There are women and children present. They don’t need to be seeing all that.”

"At once my King!" The drones bowed before leaving. He didn’t understand why they were naked. He had been going to ask Nev about it, but things just kept happening, and now wasn’t a good time.

“Steven… what is going on? Why are the Spider-kin taking orders from you? And who is that? I’ve been hearing all kinds of rumours...”

“I’ll tell you all about it later, okay, I promise. There is just too much going on right now.” As Steven spoke the half Naga were running every which way getting ready for the upcoming battle. The non combat and children were being led towards the eighth floor entrance, as a last resort to run. Although Steven didn’t think that was a good place to run. The eighth floor was full of abominations and those things were ridiculously hard to kill. He would need to talk to Sirus about that. At least all the Knights were dealt with on this floor.

“You are right. It was good to see you. I can’t wait to catch up with you later. Be safe, okay.” Eve turned to leave, but turned back. “do you need any potions or anything?” Eve asked.

“Actually, I would be more than happy for some potions, and if you have any of that baked fish...”

Eve giggled slightly. “baked fish, sure I have some. I have quite a bit of it. I had been making it for you and was going to get Captain Sirus to bring it to you, but then we were attacked.”

Steven’s eyes lit up at the mention of his favorite dish. He had been half starved the last couple of days. “Oh, I could just kiss you!” Steven said this before he realized his poor word choice. Not only was it embarrassing to say to Eve, but with how Nev was acting, he was worried she may do something.

Eve blushed furiously and was just fixing to say something when a pink ball of light just appeared in between Steven and Eve.

“I do believe I’m just in time. Your pet arachnid is just about to make a scene. You should really get it under control. And as for you, miss Evesakia, we have much to discuss. Come, let us discuss my plans for you and leave Steven and his servant alone for now.”

Eve stumbled back, “A Wisp! I thought they were just legends…”

“Come now dear.” Silvia said while leading a wide eyed Eve behind her.

Steven watched as Eve looked back at him a few times, but followed Silvia without protest. He also watched in confusion as several half Naga bowed towards Silvia.

“Okay, I’m going to have to ask her what that’s all about,” Steven turned to Nev, “Okay, you can speak.”

“What did you mean by we would be getting to know each other?” Nev said between gritted teeth.

“Well, Eve is my friend and I image I will be spending time with her. I assumed you would want to be with me when I did, although it’s fine if you would rather not.”

“I… Well… I will need to be there with you, of course. I must be able to protect you!” Nev said.

“Okay, good. Now I expect you to be nice to her.”

“I will do as you command, Master. Though I have a question?”

“Sure, what’s the question?”

“Which of us do you find more attractive?”

Steven froze. This was not a question he had been excepting. He felt it was a trap and that no matter what he answered it would somehow end poorly for him.

“Now is not the time for this Nev, we have hundreds of soldiers coming to fight us.”

“Master, it should be a simple question. If I don’t have the answer, it will affect my fighting as my mind will wonder on other things.”

“Are you saying if I don’t answer you, you protect me?”

“Absolutely not! I’m saying if you don’t answer me, then my mind may wonder and some soldiers may get by me and some of the half Naga may get hurt. I won't allow nothing to harm you, Master!”

“So you're threatening me?”

“Of course not Master! I just want you to answer my question. It’s a simple question, Reptile or Arachnid? Which does Master find more attractive?”

“It’s not that simple, but hold on, let me think.”

“Is it that close? I understand this half Naga is attractive, but she couldn’t possibly be…”

“Shush, I’m thinking.” If it wasn’t for the Spider Queen, being able to tell if he lied, he would immediately say it was her. Why did Nev even care? All around attractiveness, it would be Eve, hands down, although. If nothing but appearance was considered, he could honestly say it was Nev.

“In physical attraction, it is you, Nev. I can honestly say that. I doubt there is a being in existence that is more attractive than you. If there is, I’ve never seen them.”

“And I will destroy anything in existence, that is,” Nev casually stated. “I can tell that you are being truthful, but I don’t understand why you want me to wear clothes that hide my body. If you find it so attractive, then why have me cover it?”

“Now is not the time for this! What has gotten into you? When did you start caring so much about what I find attractive?” Steven sighed, “you know what, never mind that. And to answer your question, I already told you, it would be too distracting. You're already distracting enough as it is.”

Nev smiled wildly. “Thank you, Master, for answering my questions.”

Steven took a deep breath. “I could really use something to smoke right now.”

“Steven,” Sirus hesitantly said, “we need the aid of you and the Queen in this fight.”

“No problem. We plan to help.” Steven said.

“Yes, we will take care of this. After all, this will be Master’s dungeon before long.” Nev said.

Sirus opened his mouth to say something, but closed it.

Steven had never thought about owning the dungeon. What would he even do with it?

“We should really make a plan.” Sirus said.

“Agreed. How long do we have before they get here?” Steven asked.

“From what I was told, maybe an hour. My scouts said the soldiers did not notice them and they were moving extremely slow.”

“Okay, well, what sort of plan did you have in mind?” Steven asked.

Sorin had been contacted several times by the Assassin’s Guild, and even by the Dungeon lord that was behind the Guild. But he ignored them all. It was close now. Sorin’s eyes twitched as he watched Steven make plans with the Half Naga. All he needed was this dammed human to be killed so he could claim his domain. That’s all Sorin could think about. Once the humans and elves killed this Steven, he would gain full control of his dungeon and could respawn all his monsters. Dealing with the rest of the intruders would be a simple matter, even that dammed Spider wouldn’t be a threat. He could just throw the undead at her till she fell. Not to mention he would no longer be sealed to this room.

Steven sat on a web with Nev, just waiting. He had dropped two abominations right at the entrance, which seemed to be content just waiting there. This was Goskia’s plan. They had thrown some clothes and a few weapons about, hoping the soldiers would think the entire clan was wiped out. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think two abominations could take out a small clan, especially one full of mostly women and children. The only strong warrior the half Naga had with them was Sirus.

The entrance finally turned blue and Steven’s heart had begun to race. He hadn’t fought another human before. And wasn’t sure how he even felt about it. He just kept telling himself that he needed to protect the Half Naga as they were innocent. The only Naga he really knew was Goskia and Eve, and well, Sirus was a decent snake person too, he supposed.

First were four humans dressed in adventuring gear, at least that’s what Steven assumed. As soon as they saw the abominations, they froze and one of them tried to go back through the entrance. Steven thought he was the only smart one out of the bunch. They quickly realized they couldn’t leave the floor and readied themselves for a fight.

The two abominations roared as they noticed their new prey and charged in.

“These look to be regular adventures from the Guild. It’s strange they are here.” Nev whispered in his ear.

They were right above the entrance in a dark corner Nev picked out. She was in her spider form while he sat in a makeshift web chair.

“Should I wait before dropping more?”

“Yes, let us see how this turns out. Best not waste your essence if you don’t need to.”

The two adventures began throwing spells and arrows at the abominations, while another created a yellow barrier the abominations slammed into. The last adventure stood his ground with a sword and shield. Steven’s eyebrow rose. The sword left a lingering flame as he attacked the abominations, presumably slowing its healing. It was nothing like Nev’s black flame, but it still looked like it would do a good bit of damage with time.

With how efficient the adventures were, Steven was about to drop out a Skeletal knight or two. With the help of Sirus, they had unbound all the knights he had in his inventory. They were weakened but still had plenty of fight in them.

Nev placed her hand on his. “Master, let us be patient.”

Soon as Nev finished speaking, Steven noticed the yellow barrier began to crack. Suddenly, it shattered as both abominations continued to charge directly at the one that erected the barrier, ignoring everyone else.

“I didn’t realize they were that smart,” Steven said. “They went directly after the healer.”

“They aren’t. That was holy magic. It is effective against the undead, but the abominations were created to deal with them specifically. They will charge anyone with holy magic first.” As Nev spoke, both abominations ripped the man apart, ignoring all the damage the other three were doing. One of the adventures ran in the direction of Sirus and his remaining warriors. Which only left the two adventures to face the undead abominations. Steven remembered how hard they were to kill they were likely already back at full health. He also remembered the oily, grimy taste, and he shivered slightly.

The entrance turned blue again as the abominations destroyed the two remaining adventures. Soldiers then started pouring out, only to be met by two giant undead.

Steven just stared wide eyed for a long moment. He couldn’t believe the amount of devastation those two abominations brought. He had several more to drop, not to mention the knights, but Nev said it was best to wait for the right moment.

Eventually, the soldiers were able to take down the abominations, but they took heavy losses. Steven wished he could hear what they were saying, but they were too high up. He had been fixing to drop several more abominations on them but Nev talked him into waiting till they let their guard down and started setting up the command structure. Which turned out to be excellent advice. She said it was best to wait till they begin to feel safe and thought they had guards set to give them advanced warning for threats and that’s when to drop them. Steven then realized they were using spider tactics that Nev had most likely used hundreds of times, except with drones instead of undead.

Steven began dropping abominations along with the Sword Knight and what minions it had. He really had been wanting the essence from those, but dealing with these soldiers was more important.

All hell broke loose in the camp. Soldiers took off running every which way. The soldiers had taken out the last two abominations at a high cost, and now there were five more in the middle of their camp, not to mention a skeletal knight.

After a few minutes, Steven was starting to feel bad for the humans and elves below him. Though he didn’t mention this to Nev. It was their fault. They shouldn’t have chased a bunch of women and children into a dungeon, at least that’s what Steven continued to tell himself as the screams came from below. Nev, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the show and even shot a web down and snatched up a human.

“Hey you’re going to reveal our location!” Though now that Steven thought about it, it seemed unlikely there was too much chaos among the soldiers.

“I’m sorry Master. Would you like me to drop him?”

Steven didn’t know how that would help hide their location. Sighing, Steven responded. “No, that’s fine. We may as well question him now.”

“Hello human.” Nev said.

The soldier was wrapped in webs from head to toe, only his face showing.

“Who- who are you! What is happening?”

“I shall be asking the questions,” Nev said. “What are you doing in my Master’s dungeon?”

Steven rolled his eyes. It wasn’t even his dungeon. He also wasn’t sure how he felt about killing all these humans. Weren’t they just following orders?

“M-master, I- I don’t know who your Master even is. All I was told is we needed to deal with the last remaining Half Naga clan. Please, we don’t have any coil with you or your Master, I swear!”

“And why do you want to kill the half Naga? What have they ever done to you?” Steven asked.

The soldier turned his eyes from the giant spider to the human, before he turned back to the spider, and opened his mouth, but Nev cut him off.

“Answer my Master, human.”

The soldier’s eyes widened when he realized the massive spider was referring to the human as her master. It looked as though he wanted to ask questions, but turned his eyes back to Steven and attempted to bow his head.

“I’m sorry, your lordship, I am but a soldier I do not know the exact reason other than them being half Naga. I was just ordered to come to…”

“Enough,” Nev said as she turned the soldier to look down, “show me your leader so we may speak with them.” as Nev spoke, the webbing fell from one of the soldier’s arms.

Steven considered stopping her, but decided it was best to just let her deal with this.

Within seconds, there was another man hanging there. Steven thought he looked the part of a general and likely seen many battles. The general’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he recognized the Spider Queen.

Lowering his eyes, he spoke, “Your Majesty! I humbly apologize if we have trespassed on your territory.”

“You know who I am, do you?” Nev smiled wickedly. “good we have questions for you. Master, would you like to start?”

Steven watched as the leader of the invading battalion try to understand why the Queen of all Spider-kin was calling this human Master. Or at least that’s what Steven assumed was going through the guy’s mind.

“It’s fine, you go ahead. I think you will do a better job.”

Nev frowned, “Master?” She said as if she was hurt.

“Yes?”

“You didn’t say my name when you addressed me… I like it when you say the name you gave me.”

“Really Nev, that’s what’s bothering you? Not the hundreds of soldiers below us getting ripped to shreds by the undead.”

The Spider Queen immediately smiled and turned back to the two men hanging by webs..

Steven had a difficult time understanding the giant spider that swore to serve him. At times, she acted so childish. He figured he was going to have a hard time having her play nice with Eve. Maybe he should not spend much time around Eve for now. Steven shook his head. He really needed to pay attention to what was going on.

“Thats all I know, the order came from high up. It was strange, we had been in the process of taking out the half Naga for a decade now. I was surprised when they told…”

The next moment the guy was missing a head, and Nev was casually whipping blood from her mouth.

“Did you just eat his head?” Steven asked, wide-eyed.

He glanced at the other guy, but he seemed to have fainted.

“Yes Master, did I do something wrong?”

Steven stared at the headless corpse as it slowly oozed blood. It was not at all like he seen in the movies. He was strangely more interested in how she could bite the head off than that she did. He stopped himself from asking her how she was able to fit her mouth around the guy’s head and asked another question.

“What did he do?” Steven asked.

“Other than threatening you and trespassing on my land, he lied.”

“Good enough reason, I suppose.” Steven watched the fight below. He didn’t think he would have to even do any fighting at this point. Though his mind was just on the man Nev killed, he didn’t want her killing without reason. He felt he should be more bothered by her doing so.. but he wasn’t really bothered by it.

“Nev, I don’t want you to kill without a reason okay, I don’t want needless killing. I don’t want to be the villain.”

“Of course Master. There is always a reason to kill.”

“A good reason, okay?” Steven said as he stared down at the fight still taking place. Only about fifty soldiers remained. Most were fighting the sword knight, but there were still two abominations left. What caught Steven’s eye was one of the soldiers fighting off an abomination basically on his own, though Steven didn’t think he would win the fight the abomination’s had an insane recovery speed.

“What do you think of that one?”

“Who, the elf with the spear? He has good form, but he is a bit old. He will lose that fight without help. If only he had a few more shards, then he would be on Sirus’s level.”

“You can see all that just by watching him fight?”

“Yes, Master, you can learn a lot from watching one fight.”

As she spoke, the elf with the spear was starting to lose ground.

“I wonder if I can find someone to teach me to fight with a spear like that?”

“You want me to get him for you? I’m sure he would be happy to teach you a thing or two.”

“Actually, yes, along with everyone else you think is a worthy fighter. We still have two floors to go and we could use the help.”

“Fantastic idea Master.” Nev said as she started shooting webs down and capturing soldiers one at a time.