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Ais jerked awake with a sudden sharp movement, her gaze trying to locate Desperate. She wasn't in her bedroom. She could hear only one set of breaths - Drake's. She paused, remembering what she had done last night, her gaze going to Drake's body where he was seated nearby, her eyes focusing on him in the dim light of the early morning. He was quietly reading something, pausing as she woke up. "Good morning, Ais."

Now that they had had sex, and it was very good, and he had also been nice and waited by her bedside for her to wake up, she would hopefully be in love with him. She concentrated with all her might on that, then spoke. "I love you, Drake."

He gave her a melancholic smile, which she knew meant it hadn't worked, and she crossed her arms, pouting in annoyance as she stared at the wall. "Sorry, Ais," he said. "I hope it was good for you, even without that."

She thought about it. It was good, even without that. Sex was very good. She tilted her head slightly, thinking about that fact. Was it good because it was Drake? Yes. Drake had special Skills that made sex very good. Her cheeks flushed a little, then she turned her gaze to him. "It was. I love you."

He let out a small laugh at that, and she threw a pillow at his head. She apparently threw it hard enough that it halfway exploded as it collided, feathers puffing out into the air as he pulled it down from his face. "I don't mean to laugh in a mean way," he told her. "You're just too cute."

She blushed a bit at that, averting her gaze for a moment. That was very sweet of Drake to say. "I love you." He didn't respond that time, instead standing up to pat her head. His fingers felt very nice in her head, but she couldn't help but pout anyway, as she knew that it meant that it also hadn't counted. She looked at Drake, then at the bedroom floor, where her ordinary clothes had been folded up and left... then she saw the sexy costume that she had been wearing.

Ais had been told lots of times in the past that she should 'stop training so hard' or 'have some fun.' Maybe this even counted as 'having fun' instead of 'training so hard'? She didn't really care. She reached down for the headband with the dog ears on it, placing it over her head. She could see the way that Drake's pants instantly tented as he saw what she was doing, suggesting he found it even more erotic than simply her being naked other than a collar with her name on it and a leash. "Arf arf," she said aloud, bringing up her hands in a begging pose.

"Man... I guess I should have expected this," Drake said with a small laugh. He stepped over to the desk, putting down the book, before coming back to her where she sat. "Do you want to try some different positions?" He asked. "For one thing, if you do the work, you won't exhaust my bodies as fast."

She thought about it, then nodded. "Yes."

He stripped himself naked, and she stared at his bare chest, his toned abs and muscular pecs, his well-formed biceps. They were attractive, and she was trying to wedge that thought into her mind. Physical attraction was a critical part of romantic attraction, according to Rei. According to Rei, you couldn't really fall in love with someone if you didn't think they were hot. Drake was hot, however. His cock came into view, which was also hot, as it was large (she assumed) and nice (she assumed).

"The position that would probably be best for you, is me lying on the bed, and you riding me cowgirl," he told her, and she shuffled on the bed, letting him come to lie down there, his hard cock pointing at the ceiling.

"How do I 'ride you cowgirl'?" Ais asked, as she stared down at him. Cowgirls rode horses, but he was on his back. You didn't ride a horse on its back. There wouldn't be much point to doing that.

"Okay, straddle me," he told her, and she threw one leg over his own hips, his hard cock pointing at her navel as she stared down at him. He reached up for her hips, guiding her up like he was training her in the art of the sword, slowly moving her until his cock was pointed at her sex. "This position is called cowgirl."

"Okay," she said. "Then I put you inside of me?" He nodded, reaching up with one finger, sliding it along her collar bone, down towards her sternum in a curious fashion, before his hands slid out to her breasts. He softly played with her breasts, as she began to slowly slide down his length, and she frowned. "This doesn't feel very good. It felt much better last night."

"Give it a few minutes," he said. "It took a bit for the pleasure to kick in last night, remember?" His thumbs gently teased her nipples, which at least felt a little nice. She took him all the way to the base in short order, feeling his cock rubbing around inside her, and decided to try twisting her hips around in place.

As his cock rubbed along her insides, she let out a hot breath at one particular spot. That felt really good! She wiggled her body until it pressed against it, but the pleasure was only momentary - so she wiggled her hips back and forth, side to side, rubbing at the particularly sensitive spot. Her breathing grew heavier the more she went at it, and Drake stared up at her with obvious desire. That was good. She wanted him to desire her, because then they would have more sex.

She kept rubbing at his cock like that, enjoying herself, her breath catching in her throat as he kept wiggling and working away. She let out increasingly heavy breaths, closing her eyes as she ground herself around, just focusing on the pleasure of his cock inside her sex. It was getting pretty nice, but it definitely wasn't as good as last night. She wanted it to be as good as last night.

She realized, then, that she wasn't even roleplaying as a kinky chienthrope, and raised her hands up into the begging position, opening her eyes. "Arf arf." Drake groaned in pleasure at that, and she intentionally squeezed her pussy around his cock, because she'd figured out he liked that last night. "Arf arf. I'm your eager little fuckpuppy. I'm very happy to fuck you."

"Fucking... goddammit," Drake growled, his hips bucking up into her, but she had a Level on him, so she just kept herself clamped in place. "You're teasing me too much, Ais."

"Oh," Ais said. She blinked a few times. "How is this teasing you?"

"Move up and down," he breathed, sounding almost desperate as he spoke, and she nodded, starting to slowly slide along his cock. He gasped at the sensation. For just a moment, she couldn't help but notice that she wasn't grinding against that sensitive spot - and then his magic sex Skill kicked in, and pleasure bloomed everywhere in her whole body. As his cock slid up her pussy, it felt good; as his hands rested on her breasts, gently teasing her nipples, it felt good; as her thighs brushed against his hips, it felt good. Everything felt good, every point of contact seeming absolutely wonderful, and she came, hard, immediately, slamming her hips down against his and grinding in place, moaning and thrashing as her pussy spasmed wildly.

He let out a soft chuckle at that. "You're very, nn, tight, Ais," he told her, leaning up to kiss her on the lips. As his lips pressed against hers, that felt really good too. When his tongue made its way into her mouth, that also felt good. When his hand left her breast to gently clasp her head from behind, that felt really really good, as he pulled her down with him. When his hand sank into her butt, gripping her there, she moaned in delight, as his fingertips moved along her bare skin. Then she remembered she was having sex with him, and started to pump up and down his cock again, her hips rising and falling with each pound.

His cock felt really fantastic inside of her, her pussy spasming around it as she moaned and orgasmed constantly. Her nipples scraped along his bare chest, her breasts smushed into it. Her hot breaths spilled out into his mouth, as her eyes grew lidded, drool slipping out and splashing down into his mouth too, but he seemed to like that, gauging by the way he sucked on her face all the while, his tongue dashing its way deep inside her mouth, which also felt good.

Everything felt good. She wanted more of it. She wanted lots of it. She pounded her hips up and down his cock, intensifying both of their pleasures. She started trying to lick around the inside of Drake's mouth, finding that felt really nice too. She started mushing her tits against his chest harder, really trying to squeeze out every last bit of pleasure. At some point, Drake broke off the kiss to catch his breath, and Ais just gasped for air herself, looking down at him. He stared up at her, a warm smile on his lips, his fingers sinking into her ass particularly hard, both her butt cheeks hardly yielding at all to his hands..

She spoke up, then. "Arf arf," she said - and he promptly came, groaning as he ejaculated inside her, his hot cum spilling all over her waiting sex. Every little spurt and splash felt good in its own, entirely new way, her pussy trying its best to wring out as much come from him as she could get. Since he liked the barking, she should continue with it, she decided. "Arf arf. I'm your fuckpuppy, Drake. This is my kink as a chienthrope girl, being a sex pet. I like it a lot." Drake's cock furiously throbbed inside her, and he slammed his hips up into her even harder, trying to come even harder.

When the flood of come finally ended, his cock half-flagged inside her, but she squeezed and gripped it, and in short order, he was fully erect, and she kept going. She pounded herself up and down his cock harder and harder, as she kept going at it.

He was right about not needing as many bodies this way. The last time, it had taken him three bodies to reach the point of sexually exhausting her - this time, as she started to feel a tad exhausted, a burning sensation in her thighs like after a long practice bout with Cass, Drake was still in the one body. Her skin was slick with sweat, and she could feel the heat run through her whole body, as she continued to pound herself on his cock. "Arf, arf," she said, purely to try to be sexy for Drake. His cock twitched, but not as much as earlier, which suggested he was also starting to get tired. "Do you want to stop?"

He let out a laugh, then nodded. "I've come, uh, five times, Ais." That sounded right to her, too. "And you've come... lots," he said, his finger rolling through the air for a moment in a curious movement - and then, the intense pleasure left her body, and she fell slack atop him, just collapsing in place, mashing her bare tits into his chest.

"I love you," she mumbled. He just patted her head, a familiar movement, and she knew what it meant.

* * *

Ais sat down on the edge of Loki's bed, with Desperate laid across her lap. The goddess had been less gropey lately, but she was still Loki. She pulled her shirt up and off, then undid her bra, placing them down on the ground, waiting for Loki to act. "Why've you got Desperate, Ais?" Loki asked suspiciously from behind her.

"To stop you from groping me."

"Gwuh!" Loki acted as if she'd been struck. "Come on! Drake lets me grope him all the time. Don't you want to be like Drake?" Ais stared at the far wall, turning thoughtful as she did.

"Does letting you grope him help him?"

Loki hesitated, then groaned. "Ugh! I'm not going to trick you into letting me grope you, no matter how hard you try, Ais cream!" Ais cream? "Let's get your falna updated." Loki pricked her finger. "I'm surprised, it was two days ago that you last came in... here..." Loki slowed down. "Your Endurance has gone up four points! What the heck?! Did you get almost eaten by a monster again?"

"No," Ais said. Why would she have gotten so many Endurance points? "I went to the Dungeon, but I couldn't go deep, because I was only in for a few hours, looking for Violas. Then I trained with Cass for a while. Then I had sex with Drake lots and lots."

"You... wait, wait wait." Loki hurriedly waggled her hands at the air, clambering up and off the bed. Ais drew her hands up towards her breasts, covering them, but she got the impression that Loki wasn't groping her. "Did you get eaten by a Viola, in the Dungeon?"

"No. I couldn't find any." She had saved a Level One from getting killed by a swarm of goblins, though...

"Okay. So how much sex did you have with Drake?"

"How much...?" Ais asked. How did you say how much sex you had? "I don't know."

"How can you not know?"

"Because I passed out after his third body had sex with me."

"You- ahhh!" Loki just about screamed. "My precious Ais's defloration experience was an Endurance-boosting pounding from Drake?!?"

"That's good?" Ais said. "I want my stats to rise..."

Loki paused. "No, no, duh. You got the love thing, right?" Loki said, shaking her head. "I'm so dumb, hah! Dumb ol' Loki, gets distracted by a big pair of tits," she said, crossing her arms under her own bust. "Obviously, you finally said that you love Drake, and meant it, and-"

"No," Ais interrupted.

"No? You mean my precious Ais lost her virginity to a man she didn't even love?!" Loki demanded.

Ais looked off into the distance at that comment. That was true. She had lost her virginity to a man she didn't even love. That was supposed to be bad. Why was it bad though? She was going to love him eventually, and having sex with him meant she would love him sooner. That meant it wasn't bad. She nodded to herself.

"Nyooo!" Loki collapsed to her knees before Ais. "No... my innocent Ais, despoiled by Drake! It's one thing to have a harem, it's another thing to take advantage of a girl!"

Ais remembered what Rei had said to say if Drake had worried about 'taking advantage' of her. "I am mature and can make my own decisions about my body. My decision to have sex with Drake is because I wanted to have sex with him. He is very good at sex, so having sex with him was the best first time sex I could have had."

"Yeah," Loki said with a nod. "He is pretty good at i- wait a second!" Loki cut herself off. "That doesn't sound like you at all, Ais." She seemed to squint even harder at Ais. "Did Rei tell you to say that?"

"Yes," Ais said.

"That little gremlin! You know she just wants to get you into the harem so she can grope you, right?!"

Ais paused at that, thinking about it. Did Rei just want her to join the harem so that she could grope Ais? Would letting Rei grope her make her more 'part of the harem' and therefore 'more in love' with Drake? Would letting Loki grope her do so?

"Now the gears are turning," Loki said, nodding to herself. "Now let's go bully Rei for her participation in this whole scheme! She's the mastermind, and I'm not in l-" for some reason Loki blushed, "-and I don't like her as much as Drake so I can just beat her up without remorse!"

"Do you want to grope me?" Ais asked, and Loki just looked at her, clearly baffled. "If you grope me, maybe it will help me fall in love with Drake."

"Noooo you were thinking about something completely different!" Loki collapsed to the ground, writhing wildly. Ais just peered down at her from the edge of the bed, collecting her shirt and getting dressed properly again. "Ais... Ais..." she whined softly from the floor.

Ais just stepped over Loki's form as she rolled around in faux-agony on the ground. Loki did that sort of thing all the time.

* * *

Lefiya spotted Ais as the Sword Princess's hand reached out for her doorknob. "Ais!" Lefiya shouted, hurriedly rushing down the hall. She'd wanted to say good night to Ais yesterday, and she'd worked up the will to do it, and then Ais hadn't even been in her bedroom, or showed up! "Ais, where were you last night? I wanted to say good night!" Ais just stared at her quietly.

"Oh. Sorry. You can say it now."

"It's morning now, Ais," Lefiya said.

"Good morning."

"Good morning," Lefiya replied automatically - then the smell actually hit her, her nose scrunching up. Whoo! Ais stunk! That was a lot of sweat! Wait, did that mean-? "Did - did you spend all last night in the Dungeon, alone, Miss Ais?!" That sort of thing could get even Ais killed!

"No," Ais replied. She seemed honest, but then why did she smell so bad? Oh no, was she in some kind of running street battle with Enyo? Had she gone to Knossos!? "I was having sex with Drake."

"Oh, that explain-" Lefiya actually processed what Ais had just said. "You had sex with Drake?!?!?" She felt suddenly dizzy and lightheaded, swaying on her feet and then resting her shoulder against the wall. "Ais had sex with Drake... Ais..." she said, muttering to herself. Drake was really strong, and he was technically a Level higher than her, but she'd Level up soon! She was working on her physical stats before she Leveled! That was all!

Ais stared at Lefiya for a few seconds as Lefiya muttered to herself. Then she reached out with one hand, planting her hand on the top of Lefiya's head, making Lefiya's face get so hot that she was sure even her ears were bright red! "It's okay," Ais said. "You can have sex with him too if you want."

Lefiya just sputtered. "H-have sex with him t-too?!" She sputtered out.

Ais tilted her head. "Is that not what upset you?"

"No! I'm upset because! Because!" She drew in a deep breath. "Because you're so amazing, Miss Ais, and I admire you, a-and, and! I- with him, that man!"

Ais blinked. Then she pat Lefiya on the head again, clearly trying to make her feel better. "There there," she said. It didn't help at all!

* * *

Riveria stomped towards Drake's bedroom. Her quiet fury was incandescent enough that every other member of the Loki familia parted before her, hurriedly moving to get out of her way like she was a rampaging inferno, and they dearly didn't want to be burned alive. She then simply slammed the door open.

Her cheeks instantly turned hot, as she saw Drake having sex with Cassandra Cain, the girl in question being what is commonly known as 'spitroasted' between two of his bodies. Her eyes widened at the act in question, the sheer obscenity of it being thrust directly into her face.

He hurriedly slipped his cock out of Cass's mouth, looking over at Riveria as Cass quietly scrambled off the other body's cock. Riveria then realized that, not even twenty four hours ago, he had been doing such debauched things with sweet, innocent Ais. "You!" She roared, loud enough that every member of the Loki familia heard, not waiting for Drake to get dressed, simply pointing one finger at the man in question. "What did you do to Ais, you bastard?!"

"I had sex with her," one of the bodies said. "Also, could you give me a moment to get dressed? As in... close the door and come back in fifteen seconds?"

"I am not staring!" Riveria snapped.

"I didn't say you were," Drake replied.

Riveria blushed a bit at that, but did reach for the doorknob and close the door, her lips a thin line, cheeks puffed up in irritation as she tapped her foot against the ground. One, two, three, four... she soon made her way up to thirty, at which point she opened the door again, finding (thankfully) that both Drakes and Cassandra were properly dressed. "Now! Ais is an innocent-" He let out a small laugh at that word, which just made her more upset. "What is so damnably amusing about that?"

"Ais is... very intentional about everything she does," Drake said, clearly trying to be as diplomatic as possible. "She was very direct and specific in her requests."

Riveria's eyelid twitched, and she chose not to imagine anything about what Drake had just said. "Then you should have told her no! As an adult, it falls to you to be the voice of reason!"

"She, uh... she didn't want to take 'no' for an answer."

Cass nodded quietly, and Riveria's eyes flicked to her, squinting angrily as the Far Eastern girl. "He's not... lying."

Riveria slammed the door shut, this time to just give herself a moment to catch her breath. Drake had slept with Ais. Ais had - presumably - asked him to do it. This was bad, as Ais was a mere child, while Drake was a lustful, lascivious harem master, nearly twice her age! She counted out beats with her foot. What was she supposed to do now? Ais had been indelibly corrupted by this man, and-

She was interrupted from her thoughts by Ais, who was apparently headed to Drake's bedroom. "Oh. Hi," Ais said, with a small wave of one hand.

Riveria looked at Ais. The girl was wearing some type of... fake... dog ears... and a similarly fake tail poofed out from the line between her skirt and her top... Riveria's cheeks burned. Already?! In a mere day, Drake had already turned Ais to such debauchery?!? She maintained an apparent calm as she spoke. "Ais. What are you wearing?"

Ais looked down at her body in confusion.

"The... chienthrope... things..." Riveria said, not knowing what else to call them.

"Oh. Drake thinks it is sexy when I dress up and act like his fuckpuppy. I say 'arf arf' and then we have lots of sex. I got four Endurance points last time we did it."

"I see," Riveria said, pushing open the door and finding Drake cuddling with Cass. "What sort of absurd fetishes are you making Ais participate in?!" She demanded, and before Drake could even begin to speak to defend himself (as if he could!), she began to intone. "The flame will soon be released. Creeping war, unavoidable destruction-"

"No!" Cass and Ais both yelled at her, rushing towards her, but she was a master of concurrent casting, and a Level Six! She would not be stopped!

She was stopped.

Cass even made her apologize, and Drake explained that Ais had seduced him wearing the chienthrope outfit, and he'd never mentioned it to her before. Then Ais started asking if they could have sex yet and Riveria left in disgust and anger. (She tried to drag Ais off with her, but the girl was too stiff-backed to actually let her.)

"That man!" Riveria growled under her breath, trying not to think about what sorts of horrible things he was doing to Ais.

* * *

Bete's fingers wrapped around the goblin's throat, just squeezing until its head popped off, the body falling to the ground as he glared at the creature's corpse. He tossed it aside, stamping on the corpse, coating his boot with blood and crushing the magic stone inside. When he'd heard about Ais having... doing... when he'd heard about Ais and Drake - everybody was talking about it - he had been angry as hell, and beating the shit out of these goblins wasn't helping.

At least he wasn't behaving himself like Riveria, stomping around and threatening Drake. Drake wasn't a small fry. He had hit Level Four inside of a year of joining the familia. Bete could understand that meant he was strong - that soon enough he'd be stronger than even Bete himself. He could understand that that made Ais like Drake more than Bete, even if his fingers turned into claws at the thought.

"Rrrgh!" His fingers just slammed into the Dungeon wall, fruitlessly tearing out stone as if it could satisfy his rage. The Dungeon, dutifully, tried disgorging a few monsters, and he kicked them around easily. He was on the upper floors. Nothing here could hurt him.

Of course, a high Level adventurer on the upper floors soon enough saw the Dungeon stop spitting out monsters. That was just how it worked - the Dungeon wasn't here to give you a good time. It didn't respect strength, it hated it. The place just wanted to kill and kill, and if you were strong, it was harder for it to kill you. If you were weak, it was easier.

So much easier.

He made his way down another floor, until once again the Dungeon concluded he was too strong for it. Then another, and another. It was annoying as piss.

He heard the sound of a girl's voice, and desperate, somewhat-uneven footsteps. "Crap crap crap crap!" It seemed to echo off the walls of the Dungeon. He contemplated just leaving the girl to whatever fate was coming for her - but only for a moment. He dashed off after the sounds, soon hearing the skittering of killer ants joining in the sounds echoing off the walls, the distinctive chittering of the little things. He spotted sight of the ivory haired girl, coated in the yellow-green blood of the killer ants. Her vivid crimson eyes went wide as she spotted him. "Run, run!" She shouted, hands shushing at him, looking desperately to either side, but it was a straight shot tunnel between the two of them, and she wasn't slowing down. "I don't wanna pass parade!" There were actually just the hints of tears in her eyes at that.

Bete shrugged his shoulders, stepping towards her, and saw the swarm of killer ants coming behind her. It was at least a dozen of the little critters, and the girl actually stopped her movements to tug at his shirt. "I'm fine, small fry," he grunted, idly pushing her back, and just ran forward, slamming one powerful leg directly into the head of the first killer ant, sending it careening off into the ceiling where it promptly splattered. "Which one of you little shits's next?"

Obviously, the killer ants didn't reply. In any case, their feelings on who was next didn't matter. He was a Level Five, these things would be lucky to kill a Level Two. A few more kicks, the occasional punch, and they were all dead.

The girl looked at him almost starry-eyed when he turned her way. "Thanks a lot! Sorry, my party got separated from me, and-"

"Did I ask for your fuckin' life story?" He asked her with a sneer, and she shut up immediately. At least she knew her place. He paused for just a moment, cracking his shoulder, then spoke again. "Which way's your party?" The Dungeon wouldn't spit out monsters for him on this floor any more - but her shitty little party would probably offer them in plenty.

"Uhm. Well, down the tunnel that way, first," she said, pointing the direction she'd come from. He just grabbed her by the arm, making her squeak as he tossed her onto his shoulders, like she was a little kid. Which she was - more than a foot under him in height, she looked teeny-tiny. "Thanks," she said, and he just ran down the tunnels, in the directions she pointed him.

It didn't take very long at all for him to hit her party, which apparently had been pursuing her and just not caught up yet. There was a really damn pregnant woman with a katana... and Drake, and that new wife of his. Naoto or something. "You can't even protect your own party members, huh?" Bete said, glad to hit somebody else with the words.

"One of the walls exploded!" Bella defended. "It broke the party in half, that's all!"

"Half of four ain't one," Bete replied, staring down Drake harshly.

"Thank you for protecting Bella," Drake said, managing to come off as genuine despite the fact that Bete was trying to start a fight with the shithead who was fucking Ais. "Sorry, Bella."

"It's not your fault! You had to protect Setsuko and Naomi first!" Bella said. "I'm not mad at all!"

Tch. Little weakling wanted to defend him. He just plucked her off his shoulders and pretty much tossed her at Drake, who caught her and set her down gently, making the girl blush, which just made Bete even more pissed. "Any more monsters you need taking care of?" Bete asked.

"No. Thank you, Bete," Drake said, like he didn't even know why Bete was so damn pissed off. Fucker.

"Yeah, whatever." Bete sneered as he looked at the party. "So what're these? Your weakling bitches? Gotta make your harem as big as possible, huh?"

Bella's cheeks turned bright red at that. "H-harem?! N-no, haha, me and Drake, no!" Bella sputtered out.

"They're a lower level group I party with, to make sure they're okay," Drake said. "But yes, Setsuko and Naomi are my wives. Bella isn't, though." Bella just about looked red as a tomato at that point, and it just pissed Bete off even more.

"Whatever, fucker," he said, grunting and turning away from the group. "If you get in trouble again, I'm not going to be there to help." He ran off.

* * *

Filvis maintained the pretense that she was a mere Level Three, as that was what she was officially. It was an enormous, egregious waste of her power to do so, since it would confine this expedition to the Middle Floors. On her hip was Tear Pain, but the sword would be useless for what she was here for.

"Filvis, there's something I need to tell you," Drake said, as they made their way down the great spiral staircase that connected the Dungeon to the surface through Babel. She looked at him, her gaze cold. "I know you don't want to adventure with me, and I understand that completely." Doubtful. "I hope that it is because you don't want me to die like your last several adventuring parties - if it's not, we can part ways now."

She certainly didn't want him to part ways. That would make it more difficult to kill him, which was what her Lord Dionysus wished. Just as he had ordered her to kill Aura and her party, so that they could worm their way into the Loki familia's plans. "Why would that make you part ways with me?"

"I don't want to impose on you, even if your god makes you."

Her lips became a thin line, and she answered the way she knew she ought. "You are right. I don't want you to join my party, because I fully expect you will die if you do so." She didn't care if he died. It would be by her hand. She wanted him to not be part of her party, simply because she didn't want to spend time with others.

He nodded, following after her for a while, until they were in a more private section of Dungeon, the sounds of other adventurers fading from her ears, and by extension most certainly his as well. Then he spoke again. "I won't die," he told her. She turned to him, tired of his absurd bravado already. "I have multiple bodies."

"You have- what?" Her mind stuttered in response to his words. She knew that Rei had multiple bodies, but him too? She herself could only manage two bodies, and her status halved when she made them! Her entire personality wound up cut in twain!

"Yes. Currently, I have six. And... if one of them dies, the other five are fine. So even if there's some awful luck, and I die down here, it's not too bad. I mean, I don't want it to die," he added, with some soft smile on his lips, perhaps misinterpreting her own expression. "But it's like losing some valuable equipment. Unpleasant, but survivable. My consciousness is spread through all the bodies together."

"I see." In other words, the plan was impossible. If she cut off his head right now, then Loki would know she had betrayed them. Everything would rapidly come apart for Lord Dionysus's plan. "Thank you for telling me."

"It's not a problem," he told her, with a small nod. "I hope it puts you at peace."

She actually felt some tiny pang of guilt at his words. He was concerned for her well-being, despite the fact that she had come here to kill him. "It does," she lied. She even gave him a smile, hoping it didn't come off as too fake.

* * *

Dionysus hurled a rock at Filvis's head, and she deftly dodged to one side with the agility of a Level Seven. "You worthless fool!" Dionysus said, his voice warped behind the masks. "You had one simple task. Was it beyond you? You move like a Level Seven when it is your life on the line."

"I apologize, Lord Enyo," she said, descending to her knees to bow before her god. "I could not accomplish my task - Drake has a special Skill which means he has multiple, independent bodies. If I were to kill one, then the next would tell Loki of my betrayal."

Dionysus growled at that, the sound alien, even monstrous through the masks he wore. He wasn't just wearing one on his face, but they adorned his body, as he acted here in his role as the mad god. "I see. So you have squandered the opportunity I created for you." Part of her noted it was not her fault - but the rest of her kept her mouth silent. "Aura died for this, and you have accomplished nothing. I paired you with Loki's lover, drew him into your web, and yet you have done nothing."

"I have learned valuable information about Drake Holt," she said.

"Oh. I see. Do you think this will help us in bringing terror and despair to Orario?" Filvis remained silent, knowing the argument would be fruitless. "I didn't think so." He paused. "Find out who else Loki prizes so greatly. With Thanatos and much of his familia lost to us, our only hope is to make her senseless." He paused. "Perhaps Finn, as well. If there is someone precious to him..."

"I understand, Lord Enyo." Filvis rose to her feet, placing her mask back on her face. "I will do as you say."

* * *

Filvis cut apart the goblin with ease, Tear Pain slicing through it almost casually. She turned her gaze over to Drake once more, contemplating how best to ask the questions she must ask. "You and Loki are close, as I understand it."

He smiled at that, real warmth in it. "We are."

"You have... many wives. Does that bother her?"

Drake let out a laugh, shaking his head. "She's Loki. She has a reputation."

Filvis nodded mutely. For a while, they walked in silence, another group of kobolds attacking them fruitlessly as they made their way to a floor that had monsters more appropriate to their abilities. "Do you... share?"

"It depends on what you mean. Haruhime is... well, she and Loki like one another, but she isn't comfortable being alone with Loki." He paused thoughtfully. "She likes groping Julia, and Rei, and Koriand'r." That didn't mean anything - she liked groping everyone. "Well, Ganko and Naomi are new, but..."

"I'm not speaking of your goddess's sexual predilections," Filvis interrupted, putting more heat into the words than she meant. "I meant - is there... are you the only one she loves?"

"Oh." He thought about it seriously for a long moment. "Maybe Haruhime? She's definitely nicer with her, but I think it's just that Haruhime has been through... a lot."

"I see." They walked in silence for a while longer, while Filvis tried to think of how to naturally turn the conversation to Finn.

"Why do you ask?" Drake asked.

"Ah," Filvis fumbled for a moment, trying to think of something, and said the first thing that came to mind. "Because your relationship seems interesting." She felt a heat hit her cheeks the moment the words left her lips. "I mean- ah-"

"I guess it is interesting," Drake said. "I mean, the main thing about it, is it's a lot of work. I'm lucky to have multiple bodies, but even with that, it's really damn hard." He let out a laugh. "It's also got a sort of..." He glanced at Filvis. "Snowball effect," he admitted. Her eyebrows did rise in surprise at that. "Many of my wives are very... unjealous. That's part of why they're my wives. A number of them actively want me to get more wives, and work to accomplish that, which has predictable results..."

"I think most women don't want to be in a polygamous marriage."

He shrugged. "It seems like not as many as you'd expect, but then, women who would be strongly opposed to being in a polygamous relationship are obviously quickly sorted out." He paused. "And those who see it as a pro are sorted in."

"Who would possibly see it in such a way?" Filvis asked.

"Well... Loki, for one," Drake responded. Filvis pursed her lips and nodded. "Are you asking because you're interested?"

Heat flooded her features, reaching to the tips of her ears. "O-of course-" she paused, cutting herself off. Insinuating herself into his harem would help, wouldn't it? She stopped speaking altogether, just remaining silent for a moment, and Drake glanced over his shoulder at her. Obviously, he knew she hadn't been saying Of course, but she had also cut herself off, which left it ambiguous why and what her heart felt in truth, and... "It seems interesting," she said, idly flicking a bit of her dark hair over one shoulder, trying to act cool.

"Any questions you have, I'd be happy to answer," he told her. He clearly thought that she might be interested in him, by the way he looked at her.

That was good enough, for now. It wasn't as if she would actually find herself falling for him.

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