Chapter 17: Chapter 17 – Let’s get ready to rumble

CHAPTER 17

I stood in a short line near the gate leading to the dungeon.  The mountain blocked most of the sun’s rays, giving me a chill.  A light breeze swooped down, blowing my blue hair as I waited for my turn to be scanned.  In front of me, there were three people headed into the dungeon together as a party. There were two men and one woman awaiting their turn at Stonerock.  According to my analysis ability, the girl was a C rank human rogue.  She wore a skintight black leather outfit with two sharp daggers sheathed on her silver belt.  One man was a head shorter than me, with an enormous bow and quiver of silver arrows on his back.  He wore a simple green tunic that resembled Link’s outfit from the Legend of Zelda.  I chuckled under my breath and began humming the theme song from the video game.  He was a C rank human hunter from what my skill told me.  The last guy was shorter, but more muscular than his counterparts. My analysis revealed that he too was a C rank knight.  He wore stocky steel armor and carried a battle axe in one hand.  He had another of the same size attached to his waist.  He had a black mohawk hair style with piercings on his ears and nose.  I wondered if they were just cosmetic items or if they gave him some sort of buff.

I leaned over and whispered into Koshiro’s fluffy ear.  “They’re all C rank.”

Evidently, I wasn’t as quiet as I tried to be and one delver heard me. The bigger one looked at me and patted the slender man on the chest, and motioned toward me with his oversized head.  “Are you lost?  This is our time to enter.  We’ve been waiting all fucking day.”

“I’m not lost.  I’m going in as well.”

The large man clenched his fists.   “No, the hell you ain’t.  Get to the back of the line.”

It did not surprise me at all to see my kitsune companion lunge forward in anger.  “I’ll have you know, this man has an unlimited license here at Stonerock.  He’ll go in whenever he damn well pleases.”

The female rogue laughed and locked eyes with me.  “Do you let your little kitsune familiar fight your battles?”

“Familiar?  Why don’t you go fuck yourself?  I’m not his familiar. I’m his girlfriend!” Koshiro growled.

“Well not…,” my voice trailed off when I realized my bachelor status wasn’t important in this particular situation.

“Get a load of this guys, this kitsune broad says she is the girlfriend of this human,” the rogue chuckled at her comrades.

Koshiro promptly pulled what looked like a butcher’s knife and pointed it at the laughing woman.  “You wanna go, you little cunt?”

It took a few seconds for us all to process what was happening.  That knife came out of nowhere and shocked me and the party in front of us to the core.  “Koshiro, put the knife back for fuck's sakes.”

All three of the adventurers held up their hands, and the hunter broke his silence.  “By the name of the Nine.  This is freaking out of hand.  Put your knife away.  We don’t want to fight.  We just want to farm this dungeon.”

I heard loud footsteps from behind me. “Put the knife away or I’ll have you thrown in the stocks, kitsune!”  demanded a heavily armored guard.

I grabbed Koshiro’s wrist and removed the knife from her hand.  “There’s no problem here.  Knife’s gone.”

The guard grunted and walked away, creating a loud clanging sound that would have given me a headache if I had to listen to it for a longer period of time.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Koshiro said quietly.  “I just don’t like it when my Chad isn’t treated the way he should be treated.  You should be thankful that he is going in with your party.”

“Lucky?  Why the hell would we be lucky?” asked the big guy.  None of the three had the analysis skill in their repertoire, otherwise they would have known my high rank immediately.

“He’s S rank.  Did you hear that?  S fucking rank!”  Koshiro replied emphatically.

“Bullshit,”  the female rogue replied.

Koshiro reached for her knife again.  Luckily, I’d not returned it to her after I disarmed her earlier.  She looked at me and wrinkled her nose. I just shrugged and tossed the knife into my inventory quickly.

“Goddamn, she was going to pull her knife again!” the large man exclaimed. “Is she going into the dungeon too?”

I shook my head.  “No, she’s just hanging out.  It’ll be just me today.  She is a mighty fine healer, though.”

“Aww, thank you Chad.”

I pulled out my license and showed it to the party that stood before me.  Koshiro crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the ground with a cocked eyebrow.

“Damn, she’s right.  I apologize,” the large man replied as he handed me the license back.

“No apology needed.  Are we cool?  I won’t get in your way. You have my word.”

“I’ve never met a S-rank person before.  This is nuts,” the hunter added.

“Me either,” the rogue added.

The knight held up his index finger and opened his eyes wide.  He clearly had some sort of idea in his mind.  “Why don’t we add you to our party?  That way, we can all share essence.”

I shook my head.  “I’ll pass.  I’m not interested in sharing loot or money.  No offense.”

“Nah, nah, we won’t share loot.  The loot is person specific.  We can’t take yours and you can’t take ours unless we enter a trade.  Is this your first dungeon?” asked the knight.

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“Yes, it’s a long story.  Don’t ask,” I wasn’t interested in explaining everything right now.  I especially wasn’t interested in telling the strangers anything.

I turned toward my companion and shrugged once.  “What do you think?”

“You should only do it if they promise to pay a fee.”

“What kind of fee?” the rogue asked.

“Gods, a carrying fee!”

“This guy isn’t an official dungeon carrier.  We will not pay him a fee,” the rogue replied sternly.

“Suit yourself.  Chad is going to go all the way to the end.  You three are C rank.  You may get through a couple of rooms before you turn tail and run.  Just imagine the credits and loot you could get from completing the entire dungeon?  You’ll just give Chad ten percent of your credit earnings.”

The woman’s jaw dropped. “Ten percent?”  

“Did I stutter?” 

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the scary yet adorable kitsune.  She was advocating for me like a motherfucker.

“June, it’s fine.  Let’s do it.  I’ll pay him the fee out of my portion,” the big man interjected.

“Psh, your portion?  Hell no, Chad gets ten percent of the trio’s credit earnings.  You’re lucky I’m going to let you keep all of your gear and gems.  Do we have a deal?”  Koshiro held her hand out.

“We?  Shouldn’t it be the man that is actually going into the dungeon deciding?”  the rogue questioned.

“I’m fine with what she says.  Take it or leave it,” I added.

All three of the adventurers stepped away and huddled together.  I could hear mumbles, but nothing specifically.  A few seconds after they convened, they released each other and each of them nodded.

I extended my large hand with a warm smile.  “It looks like we have a deal, then.”

Each of the adventurers shook my hand firmly and nodded in agreement, sealing the deal.

“I only caught one of your names,” I pointed toward the girl, “Your name is June, right?”

“Yes, it is,” she agreed.

The hunter raised his hand.  “I’m Bill.”

The knight followed his lead and raised his hand.  “I’m Earl.”

“Nice to meet all of you.  My name’s Chad and my friend here’s name is Koshiro.”

The trio nodded in acceptance and glanced back at the gate guards, who were waiting patiently for our entrance.

“Oh, I’m sorry.  Let’s go,” Earl informed.

“By the way, Chad, I’m going to send you a request to join our party.  If you don’t accept it, we don’t share the essence,” June instructed as she swiped the menus on her screen.

I promptly received a pop-up message that asked if I wanted to join their party.  I clicked yes immediately. My heart pounded from the excitement. 

After we were all scanned in, I turned toward Koshiro and she embraced me. “Thanks, I’ll be back soon. Maybe we can eat some more of that cheesecake later?”

Suddenly, Koshiro placed her lips on mine. The sudden intimate contact startled me, but I quickly came to my senses and took part in the wonderful act. The kitsune tasted like cinnamon and a fruit that I couldn’t quite place. She pulled away from me after a few seconds and smiled.

“What was that for?” I asked with flushed cheeks.

“It’s something I wanted to do the first time I laid eyes on you. I hope it’s alright. Good luck, and I’ll see you when you get back.”

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