My Dungeon Life: Rise of the Slave Harem - My Dungeon Life - Chapter 28-30

Chapter 28

“Hah… Hah… I’m sorry… he is persistent. Perhaps I shouldn’t have attacked him without ascertaining if I could take him,” I said, trying to keep my breath as my running barely could outdistance the skeleton, which was already faster than zombies. “Go on without me.”

The spry speed combat specialist Lydia could easily outdistance both me and the skeleton. I had no doubt of that. She was keeping her speed down to my level, which wasn’t very fast. I had even switched to Hero for a bit to get a boost of stamina, but in the end, I was just too chubby and lacked fitness. Given training, I could have been better, but that was the brunt of it. They say in zombie apocalypses it’d be the fat people who die first. I can vouch for that one, although getting chopped apart by a skeleton was slightly more preferable than being torn apart by a zombie.

“I won’t leave…” Lydia spoke stubbornly, a strangely resistant expression on her face for a slave. “Try to heal it some more.”

“I’ll try,” I said, huffing.

From level 1 to level 5, the difficulty had increased by way too much. I already had cast heal on it ten times, and it was still walking. I had to drink a mana potion just to keep going. Another two heals allowed me to notice that the skeleton could no longer just walk it off. Each time I healed it, it was stunned for about a second. That was progress, but who knew how many more heals it’d take to defeat it. More than that, we could run into another powerful skeleton around any corner. We were aimlessly moving around the 5th floor at the moment.

“When I cast the spell, I want you to take the sword from the skeleton.”

“Wh-what?” The girl’s voice came out in a squeak.

I reached forward and patted the top of her head. “I believe in you. You’re fast, and deep inside you is a powerful swordsman waiting to come out. If we can disarm the skeleton, we should be able to dispatch it quickly.”

The girl winced at first from my unexpected touch, but then she pushed her head against my hand almost like a cat, her eyes closed, and for a second, I thought I felt a purr. Her eyes opened just as quickly, and she gave me a nod.

“Mm! I will act as Master commands.”

“I’m not your Master though…” I said wryly, but she had already turned to face the incoming skeleton.

I raised my hand and said it out loud this time. “Weak Heal!”

White light burst around the skeleton, and it froze for a second like the last couple of times. As for Lydia, she leaped forward and grabbed for the sword. The skeleton tried to pull away from her. I winced at its quicker than expected recovery time.

“Weak Heal!” I shot the spell at him again.

It backhanded Lydia, and she flew away. However, its sword went with her. She struck a wall and crumbled down to the floor. I didn’t know how hurt she was, but I didn’t have time to think because the skeleton immediately ignored her and began heading towards me. I thought it’d look less intimidating without the sword, but with its claw-like fingers outstretched, it looked very intimidating.

“Weak Heal!” I declared again.

It got a few steps closer.

“Group Heal!” I shouted.

Even if I couldn’t stop it, maybe she’d wake up and have a chance to escape now. The mana deprivation overtook me, and I fell down on one knee. The skeleton was now on top of me. It raised its claws, swiping for my throat.

Thunk!

A sword swung out and struck the skull of the skeleton. A moment later, there was only half of a skull. The skeleton fell down to the ground as a pile of bones appeared right in front of me. Behind was Lydia, breathing roughly, blood dripping down the side of her head, the sword gripped so tightly in her hands that it was shaking.

{White Mage has increased to level 6.}

{You have unlocked the White Mage skill: Divine Aura.}

Chapter 29

“What is Divine Aura?” I asked suddenly.

Lydia blinked. “What, Master?”

“I’m not… never mind.” I stood back up, taking my fourth mana potion.

I was down to only seven left. However, I was at level 6 now. I suspected that Lydia must have leveled up too, considering that skeleton was so powerful. I checked her out. Yeah, she was at Swordsman level 3. What skills did that give her? I actually had no clue. That was kind of depressing. There had to be a guide in this world of what skills people got at what levels. If we ever got out of here, I would definitely look into what was written about jobs. That’s when I remembered that I couldn’t read. Learn to read first, then figure out about jobs.

“Lydia, are you okay?” I asked, touching her cheek where there was blood while simultaneously casting magic.

Lydia shuttered and closed her eyes. “Master’s magic… feels good.”

I could only sigh. She was insisting on calling me master, it seemed. It was possibly from the stress of the dungeon. As long as I acted as her master, she could continue to move forward without thinking. I wanted to live, so this was probably very suiting. Had she seen me as a hero who was going to save her, like in the story, we would both be dead. I’m sorry, Lydia, but you will need to be my weapon here. I had no intention of taking the sword from her hand.

“Lydia, you are a swordswoman now,” I explained. “You should have some innate ability to use swords now.”

Lydia’s eyes widened, and then she nodded. “I did feel a bit like I knew how to swing the sword against the skeleton. I can… I can really fight back?”

“You saved my life and defeated that skeleton. I believe you are capable of fighting. Will you keep using this sword?”

“Eh? This…” She looked down at the new sword in her hand. “This… it’s too much. I can’t keep something this valuable.”

“Then, allow me to lend it to you.” It was better to work within her framework than to argue with her.

By all accounts, she had wrestled it away from the skeleton. In my mind, this sword belonged to her. However, it seemed like a slave couldn’t own things. In that case, I’ll take it. I’m not going to try to force her to change her behavior, especially since she was still a slave. I had no predisposition for wanting to change the system. I applauded the town for emancipating slaves, but I for one, wouldn’t put my life on the line to change this world based on my own notions of right and wrong.

“Ah… that’s okay then.” She finally agreed. “But… these monsters are scary… I don’t know if I can…”

“You’re faster than them, and if you get hurt, I can heal you,” I explained. “You had to face these monsters before without even a weapon. Now that you have one, I believe you have the strength to stay alive.”

I felt immensely guilty. She was a sweet, innocent girl who probably had never fought before in her life. However, I was turning her into a weapon and admitting she’d get hurt some more, just to protect myself. This was the level I was willing to go to live. I could probably use the sword myself, but my class had no affinity for that job, and I was too afraid of pain. She suddenly broke into tears, and I lowered my head, waiting for her admonishment.

“Thank…. Thank you… Master.” She spoke as she cried softly.

“Wh-what?”

“You’ve given me… strength.”

I didn’t understand it at all, but as long as she was happy, I’d put my guilt aside and continue to use her to survive.

Chapter 30

“Now… you see here, a lone zombie. Try to attack it.”

Before we got into a worse situation, I wanted her to familiarize herself with the weapon. Before we fought our way out of the dungeon, I wanted to make sure she could handle it. Plus, perhaps we could earn a few levels. I even considered equipping Hero and trying to level it. The skills I unlocked with Hero were bound to be powerful. Well, Return didn’t work in a dungeon, I had already tried it, so even Hero skills had setbacks, but there was always hope.

“Yes, Master, I’m ready.” Lydia looked more determined than before; her tail was lashing excitedly as she held her sword tightly in her small hands.

“Wait, before you do that, let me try this. Divine Aura!”

I tried to cast the spell on her. I was pretty confident it was a stat buffing spell. Perhaps it would help her fight monsters. In that respect, maybe it was something I could cast on the zombies to weaken them as well.

{This spell can only be cast on objects.}

“Ah… it seems I misused it,” I said while Lydia cocked her head in confusion. “Divine Aura!”

This time, I aimed for her sword. It suddenly glowed a bright white and then faded. Afterword, the sword looked white in color and gave off a hint of glow. Lydia’s eyes locked on her sword, which looked slightly magical, and an exciting look grew on her face.

“Master is amazing.”

“I can just do what I do. This should give you more strength. Make sure to attack when it’s not looking.”

Lydia nodded and kept herself squat, waiting for the zombie to turn away. Then, she silently raced towards the zombie, moving far faster than I could have while making no noise. She really did have the stealth of a cat. She could be a genuinely terrifying enemy if she wanted to be. The zombie didn’t even turn as she struck it in the back. There was a white flash and a sound of burning flesh. The attack looked much more brutal than a simple slide should have been.

However, this was a 5th level zombie, so this wasn’t enough to defeat it. The monster turned around and swiped at Lydia. However, her agility was far beyond the swipes of a zombie, and she easily avoided it. I cast Weak Heal on it, and the zombie was stunned. She used the opportunity to attack again. We repeated this three times, and the zombie finally fell. I didn’t level, but I had the feeling I’d be leveling very quickly this way.

“Master… we defeated him!” She ran up to me excitedly, delight shining in her eyes.

I didn’t realize why she was standing there until she awkwardly leaned her head towards me. I gave a wry smile and then patted her head. She closed her eyes, and the smile from before showed on her face. Her ears were right there, twitching. I couldn’t stop myself, so my hand went out and stroked her ear.

“Ahnnn…” Lydia moaned, but then she pulled away, grabbing her ears and blushing. “M-m-master… th-that…”

“Sorry…” I blushed. “I got carried away.”

“It’s… it’s okay… because it’s Master,” she said, but I noticed she didn’t offer me her head again.

It looked like I had pushed things a little too far. Well, I barely knew her, after all. Instead, we should be focusing on escaping, but it was getting a bit late, and I was tired and hungry.

“Let’s look for a safe place to rest,” I suggested.

“Yes, Master…” She spoke in a shy voice, and the atmosphere between us felt strange.

I shouldn’t have touched her ears. I let out a sigh.