My Dungeon Life: Rise of the Slave Harem

Chapter 870

The group of us had gathered silently. It was clear the girls wanted to say many things to me, but after my stern warnings, they kept their mouths shut. Even the banter between themselves had diminished into nothing. It was clear that until we managed to break through into the safe room, that the environment between all of us would be tense.

At the moment, their mission was to battle down the dungeon and gain experience while protecting me. I wasn’t sure what kind of assurances Calypso was using to gain their cooperation, but she didn’t seem even remotely worried about allowing me to travel with them. With her control of the dungeon, she likely could ensure I wasn’t hurt even if the entire group was defeated, but there was also a chance the group could betray me.

I mean, they never would. They were my slaves, but Calypso didn’t know that. It was difficult to tell what Calypso knew. She was a mysterious woman full of secrets. She had mentioned numerous times that her reasoning had to do with the Demon Lord. She even claimed something about being his mother. She wasn’t a demon though, so I had no clue how that was the case. Her age was undetermined though, so it was difficult to reason out her background. For her to reach level 100 in any job, she had to have experienced a lot.

“Wait!” Just as we started to head into the cave that led to the second level of the dungeon, Calypso suddenly called out.

I kept my face schooled, but I suddenly worried that all of our deceptions were found out. My frown grew when I saw Calypso walking up to us with a familiar face by her side. Celeste’s eyes brightened at the sight, but as she opened her mouth to say something, Terra pinched her particularly hard.

“Owie!” She cried, rubbing her arm.

It was enough of a distraction, as Calypso was already speaking.

“I’ve decided that to ensure the safety of everyone here, my servant will also accompany you. Salicia, go with them. Take care of my little Deedee for me.”

The group of us all looked at each other as the puppet-like Salicia walked over to our side. It looked like Calypso did have one more trick to make sure I was safe. On the other hand, Salicia might be there as a means of watching over us.

“Master, isn’t this a good thing?” Lydia asked over Slave Communication.

“Can we trust her?” Shao demanded.

I didn’t have a clear answer. I didn’t understand what Calypso’s aim was. If Salicia entered the safe room, would her connection with Calypso be severed? If that was the case, then this was our best chance to wrestle her away from Calypso. It would be a very good thing, as Lydia suggested. On the other hand, if Calypso suspected this was a possibility, why would she send Salicia in the first place? Perhaps, she could spy through Salicia’s eyes and see what we’re saying in the safe room.

This whole thing just became much more complicated.

Chapter 871

After Salicia joined our group, Calypso gave me a nod and a disarming smile before she turned around and left. She didn’t need to be there to see what we were doing. She had somehow become the master of this dungeon. Her awareness could spread throughout the entire dungeon. She’d be able to tell what we were doing no matter where we were. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how far that went. Was she able to hear every word we said or was she only able to see our location?

Although I had built my own dungeon, I wasn’t the master of it, so what she could do and what she couldn’t do was hard to say. I could only assume she could hear everything. I’d have to ask Elaya more about what it was like to be a Dungeon Master. I had never asked her prior, and now it was too late to acquire this kind of information.

Lydia acted as the lead, given that she had the highest perception. With a wave of her hand, we all started to enter the dungeon. Even so, I was still communicating with them using Slave Communication, directing when I felt it was necessary. However, we were all very familiar with dungeons at this point, and the girls were already familiar with their roles. In other words, even without speaking, everyone went into their role pretty smoothly.

We entered the cave, which dipped down in a declining path. To my surprise, it quickly leveled out and after only about a hundred feet, it rose back up. A light appeared in front of us, and then we ended up walking out another cave entrance into what appeared to be a giant forest. Compared to the one we had just left, this environment was completely different. The bandit camp was in a clearing surrounded by a lightly forested area. This area was humid, and the trees were much thicker, closer to a jungle.

“Eh? Is there more to level one?” Lydia asked in confusion.

Looking around, I was quickly able to ascertain that we had left the first level.

“So, dungeons look like this as well.” I let out a breath.

“What is it, Mas… ahem… Deedee.” Miki’s cheeks turned red as she realized she almost gave away our secret.

I decided to not make a big deal of it and spoke earnestly instead. “Most Dungeons consist of levels. They either build down into an underground labyrinth or up into a tower. The levels themselves get bigger, but only from the base, like a tree. This dungeon has been built differently, with each level horizontally next to the other. She said that she had entrances all over southwest Aberis. I had wondered how she was expanding her territory. Now we know. The dungeon is all over southwest Aberis, just under the ground.

“So, this is level 2 then.” Lydia breathed. “When I entered this dungeon and saw a sky, I had thought I was seeing things or had slipped into a valley without seeing it.”

I shook my head. “The space in dungeons is strange. They are truly their own little world. Even what I said isn’t necessarily right. Even though this dungeon is horizontal, I can’t say that every level is equivalent to the same area on the surface.”

“I see… well, let’s move quickly, the first few levels won’t be much of a challenge for us,” Lydia responded, giving me a look. Her look said what her words didn’t. We needed to break through to the 5th floor as quickly as possible.

Chapter 872

My ability to help the girls in a fight was extremely limited. I couldn’t use any mana. More than that, I didn’t know what Salicia could see, so if I started showing off all kinds of skills, then she would become aware that I was strange. Thus, I was very limited in what I could do. I could only help the girls by equipping one or two supportive jobs. I didn’t even dare unequip the first job that I was expected to have, Dark Priest.

To fool Calypso, I had concocted a story in which I used to be part of the church. I had joined as a child but was ultimately disgraced. Calypso had bought the story quickly, even giving my small chest a pitiful look. It was true, as a woman, I didn’t have a large chest, but I hadn’t even considered that. As the church found women with large tits closer to the mother goddess, it made sense that as I grew up and didn’t form an appropriate rack, that I would fall from grace. Sadly, my feminine body turned out to sell the story of my fall from grace a little too perfectly.

Dark Priests essentially came from Priests that had aided those considered evil. Changing the jobs, resurrecting, or extensively healing bandits, murderers, or miasmic creatures was a quick way to unlock the Dark Priest job. Most Dark Priests had to start as normal Priests, otherwise, they wouldn’t even have those skills. I did not know if that meant Calypso had been a priestess once. I know that I didn’t need to be a Priest to unlock Dark Priest. Any given job had many ways to unlock it, and what would unlock it for one person didn’t necessarily mean it would unlock it for another. It wasn’t just your actions, but your innate talent that also had to be factored in. At least, that’s what some books claimed.

As I watched the girls fight through the dungeon levels, I also had to acknowledge their growth over time. Lydia, Celeste, and Terra had all been sent into the untamed Wilderness west of Aberis to map out the location of nearby dungeons and gain experience. They had leveled and gained many skills of their own. Plus, they had learned to work together, and not depend on me as much.

As the three girls that had been with me the longest, they made up the offensive and defensive core of my group. Lydia was the quickest. She was responsible for identifying threats and would often make the first strike. Celeste’s powerful wind magic made her my strongest damage dealer, able to cope with large groups of enemies. Terra was naturally our greatest defense. It was important that these girls had faith in their abilities, and didn’t depend on my stat boosts to feel like they could protect themselves and the party. That was one of the main reasons I had sent them out.

Of course, that didn’t mean Miki and Shao were unimportant. However, Miki’s roles were supportive like mine, and Shao had long learned to depend on herself in the gladiatorial ring. With everyone working together, we had made our way to level five. Although the sun was still out and bright in the dungeon, I was pretty sure the sun would be setting on the surface. On that note, level one had a day and night cycle, so it looked like this was optional.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWR!

“It’s the level five boss!”

“Is that a Tyrannosaurus Rex?” I asked in disbelief. “Why are we fighting a Tyrannosaurus Rex?”

“Terra!” Lydia shouted.

“On it!”

Terra created a wall of earth, causing the T. Rex’s charge to be blocked. She had simultaneously created steps that Lydia used, climbing up and leaping onto the T. Rex’s head. One sword slammed into the dinosaur’s eye. The T. Rex threw its head back, trying to toss Lydia off. The result was that he had completely exposed his neck.

“Celeste!” Lydia cried out.

“Got it!” Celeste flew up and then threw out a series of wind blades, hitting the T. Rex’s neck, nearly severing his head. With a massive crash, the dinosaur died like that. A level five boss wasn’t a threat to the party as it currently was.