Having decided what we were going to do, Charlie, Steve, and I moved in silence through the corridor that would lead us to the library. Before getting there, I activated my pendant by applying mana to it, letting me see the closest sources of energy. I could see the big silhouette that was supposed to be the Housekeeper, turning to another aisle of the mansion.

“Let’s go,” I said, running as quietly as possible, and once we got into the library, we sighed in relief.

“You were right, Taylor,” Charlie said, nodding. “This will do.” He got close to one of the many wooden shelves and threw the books aside. “Let’s see what ‘Vitality Bronze A’ can do.” He exhaled and lifted it. Although he made it seem easy, I knew he was just acting tough in front of me. “I’ll go first,” he said, leaving the room, carrying it.

I was now alone with Steve, and he would leave soon if I didn’t hurry.

“Steve? Can we talk?” I called aloud, getting no answer. I turned around, finding him in front of a table I quickly recognized. Don’t tell me that…

My heart thumped like crazy as I dashed to his side. And yes, he was staring at the opened sex book stained with my girly cum.

“Were you having fun?” he asked in a severe tone of voice. He then shook his head and walked towards the closest shelf, tossing the books aside.

“Steve!” I cried before he could leave. “Why are you acting so cold to me?”

He stopped, put the shelf down, and glared at me. “So you’ve forgotten about what you said to me? That I needed 1,000 gold if I ever wanted to be with you again?”

“Oh… That…”

“And when I asked you if we could be friends, you said, no!”

“I had forgotten about that…”

“Can I go now?”

“Yes…”

While Steve crossed the corridor, I stared at his broad shoulders and strong-looking back, and I wished he could carry me in his arms instead.

 

* * *

 

“Is he here? The butler?” Charlie asked while looking up.

I activated my pendant, and through the ceiling, it let me discern a more slender figure, walking in circles. “Yes, this is the place.” 

We were in the middle of a T-shaped corridor. At the front, the kitchen’s entrance, to our sides, paths leading to service rooms. At our back, the lobby and the double staircase.

“You heard her, Steve,” Charlie said, tapping his shoulder. After two more trips to the library, Steve and Charlie had collected four shelves, which they used to block every single path.

While they worked on it, I peeked inside the kitchen, looking for the one having fun in front of the stove. When I got close, Grace had a terrifying smile on her lips. “Is the chemical ready?” I asked, and when she turned to face me, her eyes were gleaming, making me concerned for a moment. 

She had the face of a hungry witch preparing ‘abducted children soup’.

“I finished it some time ago,” she said, pointing at a bottle filled with orange liquid. She then focused again on her brewing, giggling. She looked like she was enjoying a sick inside joke.

“What are you concocting, then?” I asked, peering at the pot, finding a pink liquid that smelled sweet and nice... Oh, man… The aroma made me get closer, like a bee to a flower, until my head rested on Grace’s shoulder. “What the hell is that?” I said like a drunk.

“Something that will motivate this team to finish this damn dungeon.”

Smelling that potion gave me the urge to grab her breasts, which she didn’t mind.

“What’s your bra size?” I asked, absently.

“32 D. Why?

“I like them.”

“I know. What do you think, Dan? Do you like them too?” she asked the guy sitting in the corner, holding a cookie.

He swallowed hard before replying. “T-they’re gorgeous. Yes.”

“How do they feel, Taylor?”

“Soft and squishy…” I muttered, not feeling like myself.

“Did you hear that, Dan? Would you like to squeeze them too?”

“Y-you don’t mind?!” he cried, jumping from his seat before Charlie stormed into the kitchen. “Is everything ready?!”

 

The next step was to weaken the ceiling using Grace’s magic. The group watched as she released a controlled flamethrower fire, while I monitored the Housekeeper, whose chains could be heard from a distance.

“He’s just around the corner,” I said to Charlie, who nodded.

“Everyone, get in position,” he said quietly.

A minute after, the Housekeeper would come to the lobby, dragging his feet and a chain. “I have to keep the mansion free of intruders,” he said in a drowsy tone of voice before a pot of flowers exploded in front of him. “What was that?” he said, strolling forward, surely staring at the broken pot and arrow nearby. “Intruders?”

“That’s right,” Dan said aloud, smirking, 40 feet away from him. “I’m an intruder.”

“An intruder!” the housekeeper roared, charging towards him, passing by an unsuspected wooden shelf from where Steve was hiding.

Dan only had a few precious moments to point his bow upward and cast. “Explosive Shot!”

His arrow glowed for an instant, charged with mana, and after impacting the weakened ceiling, the Butler fell down over the Housekeeper. Dan dodged to his left, where I was waiting for him behind another shelf. We both pushed it, keeping us out of sight.

At the same time, Steve pushed his own shelf forward, blocking the exit. I could hear the sound of Charlie pushing his corresponding shelf too. It was now Grace’s turn.

She quietly opened the kitchen door, blocked by a fourth shelf acting as a barricade, and threw the orange potion at the enemies’ feet. When the bottle smashed against the floor, it released a gas that made them cough for a couple of seconds.

“What have you done, you fool?!” the Butler shouted. “Why are you destroying Lord Dylak’s property?”

“Are you with the intruders, Marick?!” the Housekeeper interrogated, making his chains tingle.

Grace’s ‘enraging potion’ she had learned from her book, ‘The Many Deadly creatures of the Eurola Region and how to fight them', had worked.

The following I can’t describe, since I had done my best to keep the shelf in its place and couldn’t see. 

I only heard the two clashing and crashing against the walls, against the barricaded kitchen entrance, and against our respective wooden shelves.

Mine broke, and for a brief second, I could see the blade of a scythe. “It almost hit me!” I cried quietly to Dan, who could barely help me push the shelf.

“You’re a lucky one,” he whispered, sweating.

Seconds later, we noticed an unnerving silence.

“Why are we fighting again?” the Housekeeper asked aloud.

“Something is not right,” the Butler answered, which was the signal we were waiting for.

“Charge!” Charlie cried, prompting us to enter battle. 

When I kicked the shelf out of the way, I could see both of their life bars. The Housekeeper was at 30% and the Butler at 15%!

A ball of fire coming from the kitchen impacted the Housekeeper’s face, making him recoil.

“You, fools!” the Butler cried, before getting tackled by Charlie.

“Taylor!” 

“Hammer Strike!” I cast, successfully hitting the butler in the head, which was quite handsome by the way. He had this mature manly beau--Ah, forget it! He was now at 7%.

The slim old man stepped back, disoriented, crashing against the kitchen’s entrance. “You will never reach Lord Dy--”

“Hi there,” Grace said behind him. She grabbed his shoulders and quickly released fire, burning him.

Charlie finished him by decapitating him.

 

You have defeated The Butler, Marick!

 

Only one left.

I glanced at the Housekeeper’s HP... 15%! Steve was keeping him busy, while Dan kept attacking him from afar.

“I must protect the mansion,” he said, getting bigger. His arms had swollen and his head reached the ceiling.

“He’s transforming into his second phase!” Steve cried. “Don’t let him!”

“I’ll try something new!” I shouted to Charlie. “But I’ll need some space!”

“Go ahead!” he said, stepping aside.

I closed my fists against the hammer’s handle and concentrated mana into it. I then used the weight of the hammer’s head to propel me, spinning with the resulting momentum. Before reaching the enemy, I felt the heat of another fireball fly above my head. “Hammer Spin Strike!”

I hit him in his muscular belly. The sound of metal striking flesh echoed through the T-shaped corridor. The next thing I saw after falling over my butt, was Steve and Charlie running at the same time, piercing the Housekeeper’s neck with their blades.

I was too dizzy to tell if we had--

 

You have defeated The Housekeeper, Bilmur!

 

Congratulations! You are now level 7!

 

Oh, thanks, Miss System.

 

You have also developed a new technique! Hammer Spin Strike!

 

About that! Can I change the name of my techniques?

 

Special Techniques are born thanks to the heat of battle and the adrenaline you’re experiencing. Changing their name would detract from your previous achievements.

 

Fine…

“You know?” Charlie said, glancing at everyone. “This was pretty fun!”

“We did it, guys!” Grace said, getting out of the kitchen and stepping over the broken barricade. “We’ll finally be able to take on the final--!” She tripped, letting another bottle fall.

Huh… As the butler said, something was not right…

“Are you okay, Grace?” Dan rushed to aid her. “Be careful, the floor is full of smithereens.”

“Grace!” Charlie cried, coughing, as a pink gas engulfed us all in. “Are we in trouble? Is this another enraging potion?”

“Don’t worry, guys. It’s not dangerous.”

For a couple of seconds, it was difficult to see, and I could hear everyone coughing.

“Let’s move to the kitchen!” Charlie ordered, and I felt someone grabbing my hand. 

We got inside, being welcomed by the place’s warmth.

“Is everyone okay? Do you feel like killing someone?”

“Don’t joke about it, Charles,” Dan grunted. “If Grace said it’s not dangerous, I trust her.”

“Guys,” Grace said, looking at her hands. “I don’t feel so good…”

“I’m also feeling a little dizzy,” Charlie said, touching his head. “How about you, Steve? Taylor?”

“I…” Steve muttered, looking down towards his… crotch?! “I’m feeling weird... Grace, what did that bottle--” he shut his mouth, widening his eyes.

I looked in his gaze’s direction, getting the same reaction. Grace was sitting over the table, lifting her robe to get rid of her panties, another lacy thong, like the one she had gifted me. “What is happening to my body?” she moaned while taking away her clothes. Naked, she lied on the table, exposing her shaved pussy toward us. “I can’t… I can’t control myself anymore… Someone... Please... I can’t stand it anymore!”

An erection… Everyone had it! Trust me, I checked!

Dan was the first to take off his pants and step forward. “Oh, Grace! Can I really…?”

“Yes, Dan! Come on, put your cock here!” she said, using her fingers to open her intimate lips.

“Thank you, Grace! Thank you!” Dan cried, getting over her.

This… This was really happening...

“Grace, you bitch!” I cried, realizing she had dropped that pink potion on purpose!

She peered over Dan’s shoulder and dedicated a wicked gaze to me.

Someone then grabbed me by the arm, startling me. Slowly turning around, I found Charlie blushing. 

“T-Taylor…” he moaned.