Random Portals

“I need this damned human dealt with! He is fixing to make it to the eighth floor.”

“It’s not as simple as just dealing with him anymore. The Assassin’s Guild refuses to send anyone else. In fact, they want a meeting set up with him.”

Sorin stood up, eyes full of fury. “What!”

“Oh, calm down. I hadn’t finished speaking.”

Sorin took a deep breath and sat down on his throne. If it wasn’t for Edgar, being twice his level, there would be no way he would allow that arrogant fool to talk to him like that.

“As I was saying,” Edgar continued, “It’s not that simple anymore, he has the Queen of the Spider-kin as a servant,” Edgar placed his hand on his chin, “I do wonder how he did such a thing?”

Sorin could barely hold in a snarl as Edgar spoke. But he had to show respect, as Edgar was the elder vampire.

“Dungeon Lord Edgar. I was hoping to—”

“Oh, stop trying to be so formal and just ask what you want to ask already.”

Sorin closed his eyes before slowly opening them. “I was hoping I could convince you to deal with him personally.”

Edgar smiled, “I created the Assassin’s Guild so I no longer have to deal with such things, besides the politics of a Dungeon Lord getting involved outweigh anything you could offer me.”

“Then why!” Sorin stood up, “why did you come here?”

“Little Sorin, you really need to get your temper in check. It will be the death of you one of these days. If you would have been more civil to the Assassins Guild, they would have sent more to complete your request. But no, you had to attempt to kill the liaison. That poor human is still shaken up.”

“He was but a simple human with no significance!”

“As you were before you were turned, you need to stop thinking like the old ones, just because someone is not a vampire does not make them lesser,” the chair of shadows vanished as Edgar stood up, “As for why I came here, it was simply to speak with you.” Now I must be off. I have other matters to attend.” A dark circle of shadows appeared below Edgar. “And don’t worry so much about the human, you still have the Elder Demon on the tenth floor, do you not.”

As soon as Edgar fell into his portal, Sorin shouted and punched the head off the closest Elite Skeletal Knight.

“DAM YOU EDGAR!” Sorin took several deep breaths, “I will make you pay for your insolence one of these days."

Sorin turned to the Knight who had already formed a new head. “Bring me a fresh blood bag from the dungeon.”

“Yes, I can make the cure to Black Death. It’s actually quite simple, though I can only make a few with the ingredients I have on hand, though Goskia may have some more ingredients. Why do you need so many potions?”

“That’s perfectly fine. I don’t need them till we get out of this dungeon anyway. And there, for a friend, her clan has been taken by the Black Death.”

“Her clan,” Eve said, concern written all over her face, “that is terrible, that disease can spread quickly. I will start on making them as soon as I finish up on the mana potions for you.”

“Thank you, Eve! You're a lifesaver. I’m not sure what I would do without you.”

“No problem. I’m happy to serve.”

“Thanks again. Well, I need to go see Nev and get her and the soldiers ready for the eighth floor.”

Eve hugged him and a smile crept onto Steven’s face as he hugged her back. Steven thought about how nice it would be to get out of this dungeon and just relax with Eve while exploring this world far away from dungeons.

As Steven was walking away, he couldn’t help but think about Eve’s odd choice of wording. She had said serve. This concerned him, as Eve was his friend, and he didn’t want her to serve him like Nev.

“Steven,” Sirus said as he jogged to catch up, “I was hoping to walk with you so we could talk.”

“Yea, of course. What’s up?”

Sirus then looked upwards.

“What I mean is, what would you like to talk about?”

“Ahh, I wanted to speak to you about the eighth floor. I understand it’s full of abominations. I have never been to the eighth floor personally, but I have faced abominations before and their regeneration ability is ridiculous.”

“It is quite ridiculous, I agree.” Steven said, unsure where Sirus was going with this.

“What I’m trying to say is that I don’t have any warriors to spare. None of them are even capable of dealing with an abomination. I would like to join you and the Queen as you go to clear out the floor and leave the warriors here.”

“I see. I have no problem with you leaving the warriors here, but as for you personally joining us, let me speak with Nev before I tell you yes or no. We will be bringing most of the soldiers with us as we go, although I’m not sure how much help they will be.”

Steven wasn’t sure how he felt about bringing the prisoners with him to fight, as he doubted they would be all that useful and most likely just get themselves killed, but Nev had insisted they would be useful, and they did try to kill the Half Naga after all so this was their fate.

“Most?” Sirus asked, “why not all of them? I’m not sure I feel comfortable leaving those soldiers with my people.”

“You do have a good point. I really only had one in mind that I wanted to keep away from the fighting.”

Sirus’s brow furrowed. “If it is just one or two, then that is fine. My warriors can handle them if they try anything.”

Steven could tell Sirus wanted to ask why he wanted to keep one of the prisoners safe, but didn’t. He was glad for that, as he didn’t want Silvia’s harem rumor to spread.

“I was also thinking of taking a break for a day before heading to the eighth floor. We are safe from dungeon monsters on this floor and have plenty of food now.”

Sirus stopped walking. “Do you think it is wise to stay in the dungeon longer than necessary? What if more soldiers come in?”

Steven didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell Sirus the reason he wanted to take a break was so he could smoke with Eve.

“If more soldiers come, then me and Nev will take care of it. It would be bad if we weren’t on this floor when more soldiers arrived, so it is best we stay here to make sure the Naga are safe.”

“Ah! Yes, good point. I’ve just been so caught up in wanting out of this dungeon and trying to help the stranglers from my clan, I wasn’t properly thinking. Thank you, Steven. I appreciate you helping us. I should get back and inform the Elders of the plan.” Sirus then took off back towards the camp.

Steven did feel a little bad about taking a day off now, but if more soldiers did come, then it would be good if he was here. He didn’t want anything to happen to Eve. Before Steven made it back to Nev, Silvia flew up to him.

“I need a bow.”

“Hey! We need to talk.” Steven said.

“We can talk later. I need to see Fidah’s archery skills.”

“I don’t want her thinking I’m forming a harem! And what did you tell Eve?”

“Steven, look, we need all the help we can get, and you don’t seem to be as interested in having male help, so I’m doing the best I can with what I have.”

“What do you mean I’m fine with having male help? It’s not my fault that attractive females are the only ones that happen to be capable!”

“Then why not take on Sirus? He is respectful and capable.”

“He has a clan to take care of!”

“And the Spider Queen has cites she has to take care of, but that didn’t stop you.”

“Th-that’s different! I didn’t really have a choice in the matter!”

“And Fidah, she has an entire village she is trying to save and you don’t mind taking advantage of her?”

“That has nothing to do with me. I was simply trying to help! You’re the one that gave her the idea of being in my harem!”

“So you admit it, you are making a harem!” Silvia said as her light fluttered.

“That’s not at all what i was saying!”

Silvia then started flying off. “It’s fine. I’ll have the half Naga supply me with a bow.”

Steven lowered his head in defeat. He wasn’t sure what to even do about this. Nev would listen to him and no doubt she would not want a harem. That damn spider had been getting extremely jealous lately. He wondered if it had something to do with his spider form.

It wasn’t much longer before he made it to Nev and the soldiers. This time they were all just sitting around cross-legged with Nev facing them. Everyone’s eyes were closed and every single one, from what Steven could tell, had a black circular web pattern on their forehead, and if Steven wasn’t mistaken, then they looked paler. Nev turned towards him as soon as he was about to say something.

“Master! You're back,” Nev said with a wide smile, ‘our soldiers are now ready!”

Not a single soldier made a move or even opened their eyes as Spider Queen spoke.

“Uh, so what’s going on with them?”

“They are now all enthralled,” Nev said, eyes lighting up with excitement, “I hope you are pleased, Master! It was difficult, but I was able to get them all! Well, except for the one you took with you.”

“Could you explain what enthralled means exactly?”

“Of course Master. I can walk you through the process as well if you would like, but to put it simply, they will obey us just as well as the drones. Although they will be more cautious of throwing their lives away, but will do so if it will save one of us.”

Steven wasn’t sure how he felt about having a bunch of slave minions. But maybe it wasn’t permanent. “So how long will they be under this effect?”

Nev’s face fell. “Unfortunately, it will only last till I change back into my original form. It’s a talent of my human form.

Steven was relieved that it wasn’t permanent, but now he was concerned for the exact opposite reason. “Will we have any issues when you change to your spider form?”

“From my understanding, no, they will be confused as to where they are and what happened though If you prefer, I can use their flesh to make drones. Well, the males anyway.”

Steven wasn’t sure if he heard the spider Queen right but didn’t want to ask how she made drones exactly. He remembered Silvia trying to tell him something about it.

“No it’s fine. Have them guard the entrance in case anyone else tries to come in. Tonight we are going to relax and smoke and have a good time. We deserve a break.”

Nev smiled. “I like this idea, Master!” The Spider Queen turned and gave them orders to guard the entrance and to come tell them if anything unusual happened. Also one of the three remaining drones stayed nearby to keep an eye on things while Steven and Nev made their way back to camp.

Steven pulled out his bed not far from the Naga camp site but out of sight. He then took off his amulet and took a few hits with Nev. After they talked a bit, Steven went and brought Eve back with him to his little camp, which only consisted of Nev and his bed. She didn’t want to come back at first, but he was able to persuade her when he told her he wanted her nearby and she could work on potions at his camp. Nev was extremely over protective at first, but after a few hours of smoking together, talking and playing the board game that Eve had. Nev began to accept that Eve wasn’t going anywhere. Steven was even starting to think they may get along fine. Right until Silvia showed up with Fidah.

Since there was not anywhere to sit other than the bed Steven, Nev, and Eve were all on the bed when Silvia showed up, which caused her to start up about his harem. Steven tried to explain he was just trying to relax after having to fight non stop just to survive in the dungeon, but he couldn’t seem to get that across to the glowing ball of light. She also insisted that Fidah join in, So Steven offered her the water pipe and she too joined. Fidah became extremely excited when Steven gave her a couple of potion bottles to cure the Black Death. Fidah also pulled out some sort of wine to celebrate. Steven then smoked and drank till he passed out on his bed along with Fidah. Nev’s resistance was too high, and Eve was too concerned about getting back to work on potions. Nev went to move Fidah off the bed, but Silvia wasn’t having it, and said that Fidah was now part of the Harem. Which brought on an argument that Nev ended up winning, but when she went to remove the elf. Nev noticed she was wrapped up with Steven. Which frustrated Nev to no end, but she didn’t want to wake her Master. Eve also looked disappointed, but didn’t mention it while she worked on potions. Eventually Nev got bored of staring at Fidah, hugging up to Steven, and went over and helped Eve with potions.

Steven woke up to red hair in his mouth and face. He almost jumped out of bed, but realized what was going on before he did. Nev was in her human form next to him on his left, and the redheaded elf lay on his right side. Silvia was floating above him, with what Steven thought was a smug expression.

“Still going to deny you're not forming a harem.”

Steven just rolled his eyes and didn’t answer as he slowly untangled himself from the redheaded elf.

He nearly stepped on Eve, who was laying on the ground next to his bed on some blankets.

He was a bit irritated that she had to sleep on the ground. He would have given her his bed before he had her sleep on the ground or kicked off Nev and Fidah, though the thought of sleeping in the same bed with Eve made his cheeks flush. Walking over to the water pipe, he took a long drag.

Silvia floated over to him as he turned and looked back at the three girls laying in and near his bed. He knew he hadn’t done anything with them other than apparently cuddle the elf. He was curious what Nev had thought about that. If this was what a Harem would be like, he wasn’t sure why he was so against it. Three insanely gorgeous women keeping him company all the time was most men’s dream. Though he was really a one woman kind of man. But he wasn’t opposed to having them as friends. Although he wouldn’t mind having something more with Eve.

“What are you thinking about? You have a creepy look on your face while staring at your companions.” Silvia said.

“Walk with me Silvia,” Steven said, “I want you to understand I have no intentions of having a harem. I am more than happy to have you, Eve, and Nev as my companions, and possibly Fidah she seems like a good person. However, I don’t like that you brought her over last night. I don’t know who she truly is, and she could have slit my throat in the night. She was the enemy just a day ago.”

“She wouldn’t have done that! And besides, if she tried, your shard ability would have triggered and then Nev would have killed her before you could even ask what was going on.”

“That’s not the point.” Steven said, as he put back on the amulet, his high leaving instantly. “Well, that sucks. Now we have twenty-four hours before we can go onto the next floor.” Steven said.

“But it was a well-deserved break.” Silvia said.

“That’s not something I expected to hear you say.”

“Well, I must admit you have been growing in level quite well. Already making it to level twenty is pretty incredible.”

“That may be true, but I’m on the eighth floor now and I’m only level twenty,” Steven said, “Silvia, be honest with me, do you think we can survive this dungeon?”

Silvia was silent for a moment. “I do. You have this over powered ability that will allow you to deal with Sorin in the most unusual way. However, you are not the only domain holder in this world, and once you take Sorin’s Domain, you will be one of the seven, which will involve lots of politics that I’m not sure you will be able to navigate.”

“If I’m honest, I’ve not even considered any of the other Domain holders. I just want to live a quiet life and explore this world and maybe take on normal monster killing adventures. I don’t want to get involved with politics. But maybe we can figure something out. I was talking with Nev the other day about the assassin, and she thinks we can get some favors if we return Necros to the Assassins guild. What do you think about that?” Steven asked.

“Well, I think it’s a good idea if you don’t want to get wrapped up in politics. Let Nev and I take care of the politics for you. She is a queen, after all.”

“I would like for you to take care of it for me. I really don’t want problems down the road. Nev can be forceful.”

“Let her be forceful. It’s her strength. She rules over several cites. Well, her daughters do it for her, but she still has to deal with a lot of politics.”

“Okay, sounds good then. We can discuss this once we get out of the dungeon, as well as formulate an actual plan. For now, I really should summon my new familiar to see what I have to work with. Gi…” he was starting to wish he never asked Gideon’s name as he kept wanting to say it. “A friend of mine helped me choose him, he was adamant that this being was the best when it came to portals and said it would be considered a favor if I took this familiar.”

“Portals are extremely rare and difficult to use. Only a handful have the ability to do so. And having a being with such a bright light owe us a favor is a good thing. You made the right choice.”

“Agreed. So, do you think he will be able to take me back to my world?”

Silvia’s light fluttered wildly. “Is that what you want to go back to your world?”

“Well, not exactly, but I would like to bring my aunt here and maybe an old friend of mine, if he would want to, that is.”

“I see, well if that’s the case, I think it could be fun to see a new world. I would be interested in speaking with the Wisps there.”

“Sorry, but I don’t believe there are any Wisps on earth.”

“There is,” Silvia said, “now how about we summon this new familiar and see what sort of attractive female you brought to join us from the beyond.”

“Actually, he is a male. A fallen angel, to be exact, or something like that is what I was told, and no, we are waiting for Nev.”

“Okay, fine, I’m going to go wake her.” Silvia said as she began to fly off.

“Just don’t wake Eve, okay!”

“Be carful,” Silvia said, “It’s becoming obvious she is your favorite; wouldn’t want your arachnid to come to that conclusion.”