Chapter 106 105: Zhu'Rong Caverns (2)
Sighing, I pulled the cheeks of the Demoness and Jackalkin, the two women pouting at me.
"What were you thinking, hmm? What if these Goblins were actually incredibly strong, huh? What then?!"
""We sowwy~!""
Glaring at them, I released their cheeks, sighing again.
Leone just chuckled beside me, however she was also staring intently at the two women, who were now pouting at me.
Rubbing their red cheeks, Jahi and Anput stared at me warily, taking a step back when I inched closer.
Ignoring them, I approached the stalagmite the Goblins had surrounded, inspecting the crimson veins.
Laying a finger on it, I pursed my lips when I felt no mana inside it, meaning...
Peering closer at the veins, I noticed they looked a little like gemstones, the rough, opaque crystal gleaming in the low light.
"Leone, is this..?"
She slid beside me, leaning closer to look at the stalagmite.
"It looks like it might be garnet, but..."
Scratching her chin, Leone summoned a small ball of fire and inspected the stone closely, before sighing.
"It's just lava stone. Worth a few coppers at best. See, if you look at-"
We both yelped as Jahi landed a slap on our rears, grinning at us.
"Lava stone, garnet, who cares? Look over there!"
Glaring at her, we both turned our eyes towards a large tiger like monster, it's two long, curved fangs dripping an orange liquid.
It's orange and black pelt was glittering in the dim light, and the monster swayed its head side to side, narrowing its crimson eyes as it searched for something.
"That's a Firefang... one of the more challenging monsters on this floor..."
Leone was also crimson, however as she inspected the Firefang some more, she narrowed her eyes.
"That looks like it could be an elder Firefang... likely kicked out from its ambush and left to fend for itself."
"So we could kill it?"
Hearing Anput's excited voice, Leone and I sighed again.
"Yes, we could, but-"
Without waiting, Anput flashed forwards, followed quickly by Jahi, their blades flickering.
"Leone, should we even..?"
Letting out a low huff, Leone crossed her arms under her ample chest, shaking her head.
"Nope, let them deal with it."
Saying so, we stood off to the side, watching as the two women laughed with glee, swinging their blades towards the growling Firefang.
Interestingly enough, the Firefang was capable of creating sequences, as runes would appear in front of its wide maw before spewing flames everywhere.
It's pelt was tough, the women's blades occasionally failing to score a mark on the beasts flesh.
That was surprising, but as the Firefang moved around more I noticed that the pelt gleamed like a metal under the firelight, and the sound of their blades clanging off of the fur echoing around the cavern.
Swiping its large paw towards Jahi, the Demoness blocked the crimson claws coming her way, grunting under the beasts weight.
Seeing that, I flicked my wrist forwards, a small, sharp water arrow streaking towards its wrist, making the beast growl as the arrow collided with it.
Using that momentary distraction, Anput slid underneath its arm, stabbing her blade deep into its wrist before pulling the blade forwards, cleanly slicing through the beasts muscle as she tore apart its forearm.
Howling in pain, the Firefang tried to spew fire onto the Jackalkin, only to grunt as Jahi slammed her fist against its jaw, her hand coated in golden light.
Next she gripped one of its fangs, yanking on it hard.
The Firefang's eyes went wide, only for Anput to stab her blade into one of them.
The two women grunted, Anput twisting her blade while Jahi tore the fang out of the beasts maw, holding the giant, curved tooth in her hand, coated in blood.
Watching as the beast crumbled to dust until only a claw, some bones, and the other fang remained, I looked at the notification.
[Firefang Killed (Assist)! 3,454 Xp]
Whistling in appreciation, I watched as the two women shook their arms, finally realizing that their up close and brutal style of fighting was quite...
Messy.
They turned to me with pleading looks, stepping forwards as the beasts crimson blood dripped off them.
"Kat~"
"No."
"C'mon~ Please~?"
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"No."
Sighing, Jahi looked down at herself, flicking her arms again, sending droplets of blood flying everywhere.
As for Anput, she was staring down at herself in disgust, since her stunt with cleaving the beasts arm was way, way more messy than what Jahi did.
"Kat, please..?"
Her voice was small, and she looked at me with wide, hopeful eyes.
Lowered ears, small posture, tail pressed against her legs, low, pleading voice, puppy dog eyes...
Sighing, I stepped forwards, laying a hand on her cheek tenderly.
Anput brightened up, smiling at me.
"No."
Releasing her cheek, I walked back to Leone, who was holding back a chuckle.
Both Anput and Jahi were staring at one another, pursing their lips as they took in their blood drenched appearances.
Sadly, as much as I wanted to leave them be, to suffer the consequences of their own actions...
[Quest: Clean off your Mistress'
Reward: 250 Xp each]
Sighing, I turned back around, laying a hand gently on their shoulders before using my water magic to wash them off.
Of course, I still made sure to do something to make them learn a little, so I made the water as cold as I could, as well as pressing it on different areas, making them hiss and shiver.
The two women glared at me, only to shiver again as the water got colder.
Finishing up, I stepped back, watching as Leone stepped forwards and warmed them up.
"You deserve that."
Hearing the Vampire scold them, the two women shrunk into themselves again, sending her pitiful looks.
As Leone continued berating them, I stepped forwards and scooped up the fang, claw, and bones, feeling the innate fire mana pulsing off them.
They were warm to the touch, and the fang dripped a warm liquid, which when it landed on my skin.
"Ah fu..."
Shaking my hand, I looked down at my palm, a small black mark sizzling in the center.
Healing it quickly, I rejoined the group, Anput and Jahi kneeling in front of Leone as she shook her finger at them.
"-even if it was a weak monster, you can't just rush in like that! What if it had companions lying in wait, huh? Or if some other adventurers were already hunting it! What would you do then huh!? Some people are killed for that every year!"
Looking at the ground, the two women shrunk more and more into themselves, trying to look as small possible under the Vampire's scolding.
Sighing, Leone glared at them before letting out a 'Hmph!' and turning away, approaching me.
"Oh Kat, those are quite valuable... wait, is the fang dripping something? Haha~"
Snatching it from my hands, Leone observed the orange liquid that oozed from the fang, grinning at it.
"This is quite a potent poison when injected... hmm, if you mix it with Frost Shroud Wrap... yes, and a drop of..."
Muttering to herself, Leone walked away, the fang still in her hand.
Getting up, Anput and Jahi stared furtively at the Vampire.
"She's... scary..."
Jahi nodded, before pursing her lips.
"Didn't she... sound like a mother scolding her children?"
Anput and I nodded, staring at Leone.
Jahi chuckled, her eyes narrowing as she watched the Vampire hold up the fang, her other hand creating a small ball of fire as she inspected the crimson and black fang.
Shaking her head, Jahi turned to me, glaring at me as she stepped close.
"So why'd you do that, hmm?"
I met her glare, remaining silent as she leaned down, her eyes flickering gold.
"No answer? C'mon, your Mistress is ordering you, puppy."
Taking my jaw in her hand, Jahi grinned at me, making me shiver slightly.
However, I stood firm under her heavy stare, making her narrow her eyes in displeasure, clicking her tongue.
Stepping away, Jahi gestured for us to follow as she joined Leone.
"Well Leone dear, where shall we go next? Since you seem so... knowledgable about this place, you lead us."
The Vampire went crimson as Jahi cupped her cheek, gulping hard before stuttering "T-That w-way... T-There sh-should be mo-more goblins that way..."
Ruffling her ashen hair, Jahi nodded, before following behind the embarrassed Vampire as she scrambled away.