Darious looked over his men. He knew this was his last chance to finish that divine quest he had been given. Unfortunately, after the last disaster, it was rather hard to find anyone that he could use. It’s why he was stuck with this shady lot. Four brutish thugs had been cheap, but he knew the morons would be predisposed towards thinking with the little brain. A trait that would hamper their performance in a dungeon filled with highly attractive female demons. He had taken a few precautions to make sure they actually did their jobs but also knew he would have to keep an eye on those four. 

The real bargain had been the pair of rogues he had managed to hire. They were twins, and those two really knew their stuff when it came to traps and stealth. Not to mention they were smart, and it hurt his pride to admit it, but they were far smarter than he was. Hiring them had cost him a fair bit, but he felt he was getting more than his money’s worth with them. They were why he had to compromise and hire the Thugs. He did not have the money for better party members. He blamed the upheaval in the church for that. Thanks to what was going on back home he had been cut off from most of his funds. Hence him getting stuck with these idiots, but they will at least make decent guards. That, and they might prove useful in other ways.

The plan was already worked out. The first few floors were well known, and they should have no trouble reaching the fifth floor. Past that things would get a little tricky. Most parties did not share the secret of reaching the sixth floor, and the guild had restrictions on that information. With a sigh, he decided to get things over with leading the way into the dungeon with barely a word.

Umeko exited the hall to find that Arlie seemed to be in a very good mood. As she leaned back in her favorite chair. Her legs swung a bit like an excited child and a very large smile was on her face. Umeko crossed the distance a bit, and settled into a nearby chair while asking, “You seem happy. What has you in such a good mood.”

It did not seem possible, but her smile grew bigger. She placed a hand on her bare stomach and replied with rapid speech. “I’m pregnant, and so are my mates. Soon my little Ren won’t be quite so alone.”

Ren was not in the room, but the little spider girl was still asleep at this hour. She had noticed that Arlie seemed rather attached to her adopted daughter, but she had lived with her long enough to know that she adores children. Loves them a lot, and she has a very big soft spot for little girls. She had also learned that Arlie does not take people harming children very well. Not very well at all. A young man broke into a house a few minutes of walking from Arlie’s home, and while Umeko did not get the full story, she had witnessed the result. A little boy crying and missing several fingers and his mother beaten. As for what Arlie did to the young man, well she turned him into a young woman. Then handed that young woman on a silver platter to the Rylarks. Umeko already knew what Rylarks do to their victims, and she found that reaction to be rather ...severe.

“You’re pregnant!? That’s great, but how do you know? You don’t look pregnant and neither do they.” she trailed off, but she also did not recall any of the other signs that she knew to look for early in one.”

Arlie stroked her belly, and replied, “I can sense their spark. Two tiny little sparks that have barely begun to grow. Rose has two little sparks of her own, and I think I sensed four in Lily.”

Umeko looked at her with worry, and said, “You are all carrying more than one? Won’t that be a major problem?”

Arlie giggled and said, “maybe for a human, but twins and quads are very common for Soleans. Triplets and Single born are actually kind of rare. I’m single born myself, but that puts me in the five percent. Triplets are just as rare. About sixty percent of all births among my kind are twins. It’s normal for us, and plays heavily in our social dynamic. I told you about Mating Circles, yes? The whole thing about Bonded Pairs, and how only the bond pairs are permanent mates, the others only staying as long as they are interested?”

Umeko nodded, and Arlie continued, “Well, our tendency to be born in pairs played a major role in that. We actually tend to bond with our twin and stay bonded our entire life. Anyway, to answer your root question because of that tendency, I have a lot of experience raising twins. Often several pairs at once. I’ll have to give Rose a few pointers, but Lily. I’m a little worried if my senses are right and she has quadruplets. Well, those are harder for a first-time mother to deal with. That and I have not taught her how to grow a second set of breasts. I’ll likely have to take half her litter.”

Umeko had several questions, but she also was glad that she would not have to experience giving birth to twins or worse quadruplets. “You know I think I’m glad you made me an egg-layer. That way, I don’t have to experience the pains of childbirth.”

Arlie giggled, and said, “It really depends on the species. My own species for example tends to have long pregnancies, but births are easy. Although we also have a little more control than most species over the process...”

Suddenly Arlie trailed off, and a very dark look settled on her features. Umeko did not like that, and asked, “Is something wrong?”

Arlie nodded, and said, “Someone just tried to use some forbidden magic. I stopped them, but now someone will need to punish them for this transgression.”

Umeko frowned and asked, “What did they try to do?”

Arlie asked her as she leaned forward, “What do you know about summoning?”...

  Darious settled onto a convenient rock to rest. He was not used to walking so much, and he was certainly getting his exercise. As he settled onto a suitable rock he noticed a demon move in one of the nearby trees. Before he could say a word, one of the rogues threw a throwing dagger at it. There was some noise as the demon moved to safety and the knife lodged in a trunk. The knife had a hair stuck to it, and was stained with a small bit of red. The demon had managed to escape, and Darious only caught a glimpse of her. 

She was a spider and a rather cute one at that well if you ignored the lower half that was. The Arachne were hard to catch here given how agile they were. Spider demons were a bit unusual as far as spider monsters went. Mainly in the fact that they worked together. Often in small groups, but sometimes large ones. The girl was likely a scout, and the others would arrive soon. It was likely they would set up a trap somewhere nearby.

They were currently on the fifth floor. The last few hours had been spent wandering across the floor. The rogue twins had already proved their worth having brought them here with little effort. This floor was proving to be a bit of a headache, but rogues were good at finding information. He did not ask, but they had been able to learn how to get past this bottleneck. It was all about solving the puzzles in the right order, and not solving any of the decoys. It was so simple but devious at the same time. Not to mention that fact explained why this floor was such a bottleneck to advancing parties. The floor was practically impossible without hints, and thankfully his rogues had managed to find the information they needed.

They had already solved half the puzzles they needed to solve, but he needed to rest his feet. Although he was not the only one getting tired. A couple of the Thugs he hired were also resting on the ground. He guessed with their bulky frames that all this walking was even harder on them. The other two were keeping an eye out, and one of the rogues had vanished. He did not see them leave, but he suspected that he was tracking the scout. Honestly a good idea. As for the other, he was approaching.

The moment he got into the easy speaking distance he said, “Don’t worry my brother will find that scout.”

“I’m not too worried. At our level, a lone demon is not much of a problem. At least on this floor. I’m more worried about the group, and whatever traps they might lay ahead of us.”

The rogue chuckled, and replied, “Well for a lazy priest you are better than I expected. Anyway, I have to agree, but that will change all too quickly.”

Darious sighed, “I know. I put a lot of thought into this before I made the choice to make this run. I brought enough supplies to last several weeks.”

Then he reached into his pouch and pulled out a few rings. Then he said, “These aren’t much, but when worn they improve experience gain and skill growth.”

The rogue’s eyes widened. It was clear he understood the significance of these rings. Modern enchanters could not produce them, and as such, these were rather rare. Darious had hinted that a magic item would be part of the pay, but he had not directly mentioned these given their value earlier. Here, however, was a better place to do so. Even if his hired help might stab him in the back. At this point he needed to take the risk and taking it might help build a little trust. Something he knew would be needed for a party to really delve into a dungeon.

The rogue reached out and he let him grab one, “I have never seen one of this. How good is this one?”

“It’s only a ten percent boost. So not one of the legendary rings that were used in the ancient past. Still good, and that one is yours. Payment for helping here. Consider it an advance.”

The rogue smiled, and equipped the ring, “Hmm, it will be a pleasure working with you.”

“Well don’t get cocky, this dungeon is a crafty one,” replied Darious.

Before the rogue could say anything else the bushes rustled, and they looked over. It turned out that his brother was returning. He had a few scrapes and a couple of small cuts. Otherwise, he was fine. What was of more interest however was what was behind him. Trailing behind him, eyes downcast was the spider girl from earlier. Although now she was wearing a collar and was being pulled along by a chain. Darious had not seen a collar like that one before and did a quick Analyze spell.

Tamer’s Collar: Similar to the Slave collar but less powerful. The Tamer’s Collar is designed for use on monsters but will work on Sapients as well. When worn it prevents the wearer from physically harming the master and makes them more willing to follow the master’s commands. Note: the wearer can disobey, and the level of obedience is determined by the master’s taming skill. Note: this collar has a reduced effect on Sapients.

Darious shook his head. It seemed someone had a fetish for spider women, and decided to get himself a pet. Well, lust demons were certainly crafty, and he knew that she was going to find a way to make trouble. Using that collar made him wonder if he had stopped thinking for a moment. Pushing off the rock he asked, “So what happened?”

The rogue gave a smile, and answered, “...