I gestured towards the thick stone wall behind him, “Over there, they wouldn’t follow me.” I insisted.

He frowned at that his intensity dropping considerably.

One of his men chimed in, “No one knew what to do, or how to proceed. She was the only one that had a plan… but no one trusted her. Some of us decided that we would at least give her plan a try… and here we are.” He said glancing back at me and giving me what was clearly a small smile of apology.

“I see.” Dragon Smith said his tone even once more.

I explained what we’d done and with a bit more cave carving on Naan’s part we traced our way back to the villagers. When we arrived. They looked far more haggard, and it was no surprise seeing more and more vines had attempted to lash out at them. I wasn’t sure what was causing them to bother the larger group, but everyone just looked more spooked than anything else.

Dragon Smith who was in the lead stormed up to the group of worried soldiers and townspeople. “What the hell is wrong with you people?”

Everyone seemed to shrink at his words. “She asked you to move down the blasted hallway, and you all ignore her? Who the flying fuck do you think is guiding us through this death trap?” He boomed at them.

Everyone seemed like children glancing at the floor or into the corners. A few glared back at him, but when he met each and every one of their stares with his own, they glanced away.

I couldn’t help but stare in awe at the display. It was in Dragon Smith, he had an intensity not just in body and voice but in presence.

Several of them glanced my way and seemed entirely cowed as if they really had no idea what to say, or even do.

Strangely I didn’t want him to be the one to get results. So before he could actually issue the order I spoke up, “Well? Go down the hall.” I said pointing back towards the intersection where a freshly smashed tiny vine still twitched.

I was honestly surprised that everyone just started walking.

Dragon Smith cocked an eyebrow at me.

“What?” I asked next to him as everyone walked in a particularly reserved shamble.

“You sure you actually tried?” He asked me sidelong.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He shrugged, “It doesn't matter. You did well honestly. In fact, I think I might have misjudged you a bit.”

I shrugged, “Thanks I guess?”

He sniffed, “You could have left us here. Just used that group of men to escape on your own.”

“I made a deal. No, I made a promise." I said with firmness. "Besides, the last thing I want is to actually see these people hurt.” I resolved.

He nodded accepting my words for what they were.

Charlene stepped up next to me as they passed by and she took in a breath, “I’m so glad you’re safe… I tried to convince them… but…” She trailed off after a moment.

I gave her a small smile, “I know… it's not your fault. Besides thanks to the soldiers that went with me we didn’t have any issues.” I explained. There was also the whole thing about having twenty or so men jack off to me in a hallway too. I wasn’t sure who if anyone was going to talk about that. But some part of me kinda hoped that was gonna stay in the depths of this place. It wasn’t that I was worried about people knowing, it just came down to tiring conversations I’d rather not have.

Everyone else or not, I’d still have to deal with Gerl and Devin since they were with me.

“Also… did something happen when you were gone?” Charlene asked a bit uncertainly.

“Hmm?” I hummed my question.

“You… Seem more confident… just… I don’t quite know how to explain it.” She replied.

“Do I?” I asked considering it. I glanced over at Devin, “Do I seem more confident?” I asked him.

Devin shrugged, “You're always brimming with baseless confidence as far as I’m concerned.”

I playfully elbowed him which just caused him to just grin back.

“What about you Gerl?” I asked.

Gerl was standing on the other side of Devin and he just fidgeted, “I don’t know…” He offered after a moment.

“It's not really confidence…” Charlene corrected herself, “It's… maybe conviction? Your words are just carrying more weight.”

That struck a nerve inside me. “Naan, can normal people perceive mana?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“I’ve always thought that Dragon Smith has been terrifying. I’d said and done some stupid shit around him, but I’ve almost felt a subconscious need to not piss him off. Now after we recharged suddenly everyone thinks I’m all important or worth listening to or something.” I interjected though I didn't know if that was entirely accurate.

“Curious…”

I ended up just shrugging, “Thanks I guess?”

Not sure what else to say, or do she couldn't help but look a bit embarrassed. After a moment she spoke up, “Well, I’ll talk to you again later then.” Then turned to rejoin her quiet husband among the towns folk.

Before long Naan cleared the roadblock letting us continue forward.

I felt a little bad that I didn’t have something better to say. Maybe I should have just accepted the compliment for what it was. But I couldn’t help shake the fact that it was false praise because of something I’d gained by sucking twenty-something cocks.

Dragon Smith hadn’t been entirely paused while we did our backtracking and digging. As we had seen at the end of the path we had walked to find him, he’d cleared a sizable chunk of the vines around the area, more than we had needed by far. Likely since he had no idea which path we would take. But before long his normal smashing cadence returned and we pressed deeper into the old dungeon.

Everyone kept on alert but we could all relax a little bit knowing that for the most part, we were safe again with the main force and of course the man at the head of the group. I continued to relay directions and we pressed onward.

When we encountered another massive vine we conferred with Dragon Smith and opted to drop the ceiling on them, then carve our way through. It seemed a more reliable approach seeing as how he’d actually been injured from his one and only interaction with such a massive vine.

He accepted easily enough and we performed the same shuffle as before retreating far enough for Naan to do its thing before we all filed through the carved-out section. The only real problem was that we had to make the tunnels wider with Dragon Smith with us since he was just so damn big.

While we were waiting for him to clear out some vines ahead I couldn’t help but let my mind wander back to what I’d done earlier.

“We should really figure out a better plan to keep my mana up for the future.” I said to Devin.

“Hmm?” he said glancing over at me.

“I’m just saying, to avoid something like that again.” I explained.

“Listen to you… avoid that? Where is Anna and what did you do with her?” He said mockingly glancing around.

“Hey!” I protested.

He chuckled.

“Of course what I’m saying is that you really need to fuck me more often.” I pointed out.

He laughed, “I suppose that is what you are saying…”

“What about you Gerl? You want to help?” I asked.

Gerl who was on my other side was blushing furiously, “Miss Anna… I will do what I can…” He said while fidgeting.

I smiled at that, he was beyond earnest if nothing else. And here I was corrupting him. That made me honestly think of something. “Hey Naan, does Gerl or Devin have any corruption?”

There was a rather lengthy pause at that.

“Naan?” I asked after nearly half a minute of having no response. I was expecting a quick and easy denial, instead, I got nothing.

“Corruption no. Besides nothing else really stands out about them.”

“So much for that Idea?” I asked the voice in my head.

“More importantly I checked Dragon Smith. He by comparison has some interesting numbers. You and him both have a very high soul conviction. He is still higher than you are, but that scale is unique to you both.”

“Wait… what!?” I blurted out.

Everyone around me glanced over at me.

“Sorry... just thinking to myself.” I offered to my allies.

Of course, everyone around gave me a knowing look, including Dragon Smith.

“I’ve checked others as well, and found that most people have very little to none.”

“But the only two people here with that, have an insane amount of mana?” I pointed out.

“Accurate.” Naan agreed.

“So what exactly does this mean? And can we raise Gerl’s or Devin’s?”

“It's a good question.”

“Naan… did my corruption have anything to do with me becoming a succubus at all? Or was it that... soul conviction?” I asked.

“I admit to being uncertain. I'm starting to believe that corruption has to do with you being a 'Corrupted tiger kin.' So less to do with your succubus nature, and more to do with your soul and body's bond.”

“We waited until I was maxed out until we did it…” I pointed out.

“Rather I was kept away from you until such a time as you’d already reached that level. It was quite possible that it made your change easier. But if you want my honest answer as to if you required it to change, I would say that my answer is a clear no.”

“Why is that?” I ask.

“Because even though I am unable to change the affinity of a soul, I can still imbue a mana body with such abilities.”

“So when you told me that Kay wasn’t a succubus… you lied?” I asked feeling anger bubble inside me all over again.

“I would say I was honest. Giving a mana body such abilities was awkward, and even if she gained the ability to shapeshift, she didn’t know how to properly use it. So if you ask me if I made a succubus, the answer is really no. What I made was an imposter, a body with access to abilities it's unfamiliar with.”

I sighed. I guess I could understand that much. “Anything else you want to share while we are at it?”

“No?”

“We are in this together you know.” I pointed out.

“Maybe.” Naan said.

“Maybe?” I asked a bit confused by this. I thought we had moved on past this whole thing and started to work together. Had I been wrong again?

"Its... Nevermind." The former gemstone replied.

I didn't know what that meant. Naan wasn't being resistant. It was something else. I decided for the moment to just move on, "Alright, so… thoughts on the conviction thing?"

“It has nothing to do with your powers. If we assert that your ability to use succubus abilities is not tied to your corruption, it must be linked instead to your affinity. After all, the only other creature with a high soul conviction is the strange blacksmith. He is not a monster, or demon, and is mostly human, with a few drops of a dwarf in him. So I believe that this, and only this can be related to your ability to produce mana from seed.”

I rolled that around in my mind and couldn't help but have one thing to say, "Are you suggesting that Dragon Smith can make man from cum too?"

"...Anna. Could you at least try to be serious?" Naan asserted.

"Fine..." I pouted, "It was just a joke. Besides, that's basically what I was thinking… Or maybe it's just an ability thing?” I mused in our shared mind space. Somehow I couldn't help but be annoyed that Dragon Smith could slay dragons and smash buildings, while I got to suck dick. On second thought, I was clearly all about the second one, and not remotely about the first. I was entirely to blame for this, wasn't I? The universe had read my mind, realized I was a massive perv, and gave me what I wanted. Well, it was still a little frustrating even if it was easy to explain.

“Any idea how much Devin or Gerl have changed since we met them?” I asked, knowing the likely answer.

“No.”

I nodded, “Yeah I figured. I guess maybe we should take notes on this and check every once and a while to see if maybe we can figure something out.”

“Not a bad idea. Even if it might be pointless.” Naan agreed.

“Now what?” Dragon Smith asked me as we walked into the room through a massive smashed open hole in a doorway.

I blinked glancing around and realizing that our claim ended in this room.

“We need to dig out. This is where the dungeon core once rested.” Naan explained.

I couldn’t help but glance around at the room in question.

There were various smashed open containers and piles of what looked like trash around the room which was mostly a cylinder with various equal distant pillars. In the middle of the room was a simple pedestal, there was a small stone extrusion like an odd pin at a strange angle.

I wandered over to it and glanced down behind the central pedestal realizing that there were more heading towards the back wall.

“The core attempted to flee.” Naan noted internally.

I nodded, unfortunately for that core, the wall had been dug into, a short tunnel that may be reached about twelve or so feet into the wall. There was nothing inside, just cracked and jagged stone. It looked nothing like the stone that Naan carved, nor did it look like a natural wall or cave-in. It looked like someone had mined their way into the wall and claimed the once dungeon from its hiding place.

“Alright let's move everyone back a room and we can start working our way back to the surface.” I said turning around to see Dragon Smith watching me.

“No funny business now.” He offered.

“Funny? Me?” I asked touching my breasts with a hand.

He shrugged a noncommittal shrug and left me there in the room.

“How far down are we anyway?” I asked Naan.

“There is a natural cave system over us. Perhaps it put this room here with the intention to flee easily into that cave.” Naan noted.

“Maybe, but if it had to roll itself across the floor it didn’t have any reliable minions either.”

Naan was quiet for a moment.

“What?” I asked.

“Dungeons are not by nature trusting.”

“True.” I agreed, I could see all the horrible ways this dungeon's fate had been sealed by its own decisions.

“Do you think we are in a better or worse position than this place?” I asked.

“Well, we are a dungeon with legs. So perhaps it would be better to just admit that we are unique.” Naan reported as the broken stone in the wall began to turn to dust in front of us.

I chuckled, “I guess I can’t argue with that.”