Act 3 Start – A visitor with terrible posture

Act 3: A snake, a summoner, a skeleton

A warm, wet feeling around your shaft wakes you up in the morning, the same thing you've felt every time you've awoken this past week. You lazily open your eyes to see Mariel and Seramiel on either side of you, their chests pressed into your side as they continue to sleep. Ari is nowhere to be seen, presumably already up and about. Farther down, your cock has been taken to the hilt by the dark elf adventurer, necklace bouncing between her bare breasts as she moves her head up and down to a glk, gack sound. After another minute of this, you let out a sleepy moan and release a thick, creamy load into her mouth, which she dutifully swallows to the last drop. "Well done slut, you may go. Remember to keep practising: you've made a lot of progress already."

"Thank you master. Your servant is glad she could be of use." Her voice drips with sarcasm and she glares daggers at you as she's led out by Lilia, naked hips swaying on the tall heels that are her only attire at the moment. Honestly, part of you is glad she still fights as much as she does: seeing her choose to comply anyways is incredibly hot, and you'll have plenty of time to make her truly submit in spirit as she has in body.

You slide your arms out from under the two angels to sleepy groans and mumbles of protests, then stand up and walk to the nearby portal. You've moved your quarters to Zalreanne's old room at the top of the tower. It's a bit excessive, given your tower floors are far more limited than your space, elsewhere, you allow yourself the indulgence given your progress. More importantly, the glare the late necromancer gives you every time she sets foot in the room makes it worth it all on its own. The floor is big enough to also include your huge pool and even several separate bedrooms for guests or whoever wants a bit of peace and quiet for the night. It's a testament to the ex-sorceress' personality that she was hoarding all the space for herself: even you don't want it all, and you're an evil dungeon boss! Then again, your humble beginnings on a rocky floor at the bottom of a ruined tower weren't all that long ago: even dungeon bosses have to come from somewhere, after all.

The woman's grunts of exertion coming from the nearby training area wrench you out of your thoughts and tell you you've found your warlock. You step through the door just as she blocks Rishukan's huge cleaver with her frigid blade, then spins around and blows away five fallen ones with a burst of evil green energy. Now that you think about it, it's been ages since you really kept up with how she's doing: sure, you've fought alongside her on adventurers, but those are usually far too hectic to really keep up with everyone's abilities.

Arialle, Level 23 Warlock
Monster, Champion, Elf, Explicit
Attributes
STR 61, DEX 82, END 65, CHA 73, MAN 25, APP 48, PER 31, INT 41, WIT 28
Feats
Champion, Infernal Contract, Soulbound, Turncoat
Warlock – You can harness the power of your patron to enchant your equipment with additional accuracy and magic damage.
Spells
Abyssal Blast – You create a powerful blast of energy, focused either in a narrow cone or a long line. Enemies struck take magic damage and must resist with END or be knocked away.
Fascinate – You create a vision of your patron's gifts. Enemies must resist with INT or stand and drool as they fantasize about the possibilities.

She's come quite a long way since her days just after quitting the priesthood—priestess-hood? These spells must be fairly new, given you don't recall seeing her use them. Speaking of which, another burst of green light erupts from her hand, this time lancing across the room and striking Rishukan, who's apparently been driven back at some point when you were catching up on Ari's stats. The huge fallen lieutenant resists the blast, but nonetheless grunts in pain as her flesh sizzles from the impact. When she reaches the ex-priestess, her huge weapon is nearly effortlessly flicked away and she kneels to concede defeat as Frostfang rests on her neck, panting in exhaustion. The fallen ones are nowhere to be seen, presumably also having been defeated. Ari sheathes her weapon and pats Rishu on the shoulder before standing up and seeing you: the daemonic officer quaffs a healing potion, gives you a nod, and heads off into the dungeon.

"Oh, already up?" She starts walking over to your, her battered leather armour torn in a few places from the fighting. "What's on the agenda today?" She loops her arm in yours.

"Not much. I know I should get back to scheming, but it seems like everything has gone so well recently and I kind of feel like I've earned a bit of a break, you know?" You squeeze her shoulder as you walk to nowhere in particular.

"Aw, is my widdle imp going all soft?"

"You know, you're right. Maybe I've been spending too much time around elves recently. All of their sitting about is starting to rub off on me. Well, Sera and Mary will be happy to hear that they've been promoted." You check your hip into her lightly, faking pushing her away, and she rolls her eyes and chuckles a bit in response.

"Oh, please, you'd be back to an imp in two days without me, and you know it. Anyways, what's the plan for today, mister lazybones? Want to head to Broadbridge or something?"

"I'll... pass. Just because I can look like an adventurer doesn't mean I want to act like one. Maybe some other time." She mock pouts: she hasn't actually been homesick of late, especially since you moved into the tower. "No, I think I might just finally get to spending some of this fame I've wracked up, hang around a bit in the pool, maybe visit Zal and give her a bit more time to practice."

She laughs. "Is that what we're calling throat fucking these days?"

"Well, sure then, maybe fuck her throat a bit, if you prefer that."

"You know, with all the time you spend around her these days, a girl might get jealous."

You give her a quick peck on the lips. "Oh, please, babe. You know I'd be happy to fuck your throat any time you ask."

"Is that all you think about? Throat fucking?" She rolls her eyes, smiling a bit despite that.

"Hey, you know that isn't true! I think about plenty of other kinds of fucking too." You squeeze her butt in emphasis. She can't help but laugh at that.

"Seriously though, let's go sit down and check out that fame menu. It seems like such a waste to let it all just sit there, especially since you got that boost from mister 'he who can not be pronounced.'" You steer yourself in the direction of the throne room and take a seat. Ari slides onto your lap and you wrap a hand around her waist while the other opens the fame menu.

Fame: 23,266

• People are talking about you: +962
• Humiliated a powerful adventurer (x5: nemesis): +500

This really is a huge amount of fame, although you can't take credit for half of it. You're a bit disappointed that the chatter from adventurers has fallen so much: the day after the bounty alone you'd earned almost twice that much. It's probably inevitable, though: the time since has been mostly quiet, and the relatively few weak adventurers who try to break into your basement don't even require your attention, most perishing in the first few rooms. Honestly, you haven't made good use of the fame system at all: it seems as if you're supposed to have powerful rewards so that adventurers are incentivised to attack your dungeon, but you've been so busy elsewhere that you've pretty much just ignored the system, and you're probably well behind on fame as a result of it. Something to think about once you finally start the much-needed renovations: at the moment any moderately powerful adventurer will require you to personally intervene, and you have other things you'd much rather be doing than fighting adventurers all the time.

Fame: 23,266
Promotion: Boss -> Elite Boss (100,000 fame, missing requirements: 20/50 minions, 4/5 champions, 3/5 lieutenants, 10/25 liegelord level, 1/3 dungeon levels)
Daemonic Liegelord: 10/25 (1,210 fame)
Angelic Liegelord: 0/10 (1,210 fame)
Expand Dungeon Claim Radius: 1km -> 2km (10,000 fame)
Summon Minion: 20/75 (50 fame)
Summon Greater Minion: 1/15 (250 fame)
Additional Champion Slot: (4 spent/0 available/5 max) (8,000 fame) (requires liegelord level 15)
Additional Lieutenant Slot: (3 spent/0 available/5 max) (150 fame)
Additional Dungeon Level: (1/5) (1,000 fame)

"Well, it looks like I should probably at least start with five levels of liegelord, since so many things depend on that moving up. What do you think? Angels or daemons?"

"Let's get some variety in here! Besides, I'm sure Mary and Sera would appreciate the company."

"Oh, please, we're more daemons than angels these days anyways. Besides, they're just cannon fodder." Sera steps down the stairs and joins in on the shopping, apparently not very attached to her old kind.

"Come on, sis, we could use a bit of variety to the underlings. I doubt any angels our lord summons will be particularly 'angelic' anyways. If they are, well, it'll be hilarious to see them try to get along with the seductrixes." Mary, as usual, is more adventurous than her sister.

"Well, angelic liegelord it is then." You sink 8,550 fame into it, bringing your total liegelord level to 15. "That leaves us with 14716 to work with. We should probably hang on to at least five or six thousand of that for remodelling. Anything else you figure?"

"Why not just finish up with the minions? They're really cheap and it's not like the resources will hurt. Worst case we can try to sell the resources or something. Besides, I'm sure the renovations will require an army of abishai to mine and build everything on time." Ari's argument makes sense, so you spend another 2,500 fame to fill out your contingent of lesser abishai. "Let's hang on to the rest. No need to waste it, given how high some of those prices are." Seeing no fault in her argument, you wave away the menu.

With that handled for now, you spend a bit of time just sitting relaxing with your first partner in your arms and an angel at either shoulder, closing your eyes as you enjoy the feeling of their warm bodies against yours. Unfortunately, your lazy morning is not to be, as a "boooooooooo—" *thunk* interrupts your snooze. Balezann sheepishly picks himself up off the floor and floats over your way.

"What, Baelzann? I told you I was on vacation, and it doesn't sound like there are any powerful adventurers nearby."

"Bossman! Some old guy's here, wants to see you's. Sez it's urgent!"

"Well, I don't want to see him. Tell him to go away."

"Bad idea, boss. The shappazus told him that, and now they's all respawning, just like that. Snap of a finger!" He snaps his own fingers for emphasis, although nobody vaporizes from the reenactment.

"Fine," you groan. "Send him in." Baelzann salutes and zips out. You feel Mariel and Seramiel step away and turn your head to see them standing behind your throne, bodies stiff and hands on their weapons. Well, let them do that. You aren't going to let some old adventurer ruin your morning. You pull Ari a little closer to you and close your eyes, snoozing until the wizard shows up. Why is it always wizards? And at least the last one was hot. If this one really pisses you off, it'll probably just end in you killing him. You don't really go for old guys.

"My lord," an ancient voice brings you to your senses, and you open your eyes to see a hunched man standing in front of you. At least, you assume he's a man based on his voice. He's completely swaddled in thick robes and a hood covers his head. Nothing but darkness and two pinpricks of light are visible underneath, no doubt the result of some enchantment. "It is an honour and a pleasure to meet you."

"Spare the pleasantries. My lieutenant told me you killed my gatekeepers. Why? Now that you're here, I don't really get the feeling you're an adventurer."

"Most observant, my lord. I have come on behalf of my master, a powerful monster who seeks to unite the dungeons on the lower slopes of Mt. Imporne. If enough of us band together then not only will we throw back the adventurers, but even challenge the Great Wyrm herself! Imagine: you, who were but an imp not so long ago, taking part in the slaying of the mightiest beast of Imporne."

"I'm not dumb enough to believe there isn't some sort of catch. No doubt your master wants to put himself in the wyrm's place. Why should I help him exchange one lord for another?" You wave your hand dismissively in emphasis.

"Oh, you misunderstand, my lord." Despite the man's pained breathing, he begins to talk even more excitedly than before. "My master's ascension is foretold. He simply wishes to extend you the honour of being by his side when he does so. My master can me a most gracious lord, something you will learn when we slay the dragon together."

"Tell your master I want no part of his schemes. We stay out of our neighbours' business here on Mt. Imporne. If he wants to vie for the top of the mountain, that's his business, not mine. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's my week off." you rest your chin on Ari's shoulder and close your eyes.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, master daemon." You open your eyes, close to just tossing a fireball and being done with it. Don't monsters from his day know to respect their superiors? Old monsters, always with the rebelliousness... "You see, my master will rule Imporne one way or another, and last I checked we stand on the mountain right now. You can make history or be swept aside by it. I will return in two weeks to hear your final answer."

"Hah, he wouldn't be the first to try. Mary, Sera, show him the quick way out." A frost arrow whizzes over your shoulder and the robes collapse to the ground, wheezing laughter echoing as they do. That's it? You can't see what all the fuss was about, really. Sera walks over and nudges the pile of fabric with her foot, earning a muffled crunching sound for her efforts. She pulls the cloak back to reveal nothing but a pile of yellowed bones.

"Remember, you have fourteen days," the voice seems to echo from all around you, then descends into more pained cackling. A powerful breeze blows through your dungeon and up the stairway to the outside, and the cloak and bones disintegrate in front of your eyes, carrying the dust and the laughter out over the cliff.

"Well, I'm not sure what that was, but with our luck it's nothing good. I suppose vacation time is over. Let's get to remodelling." You lift up Ari and stand up, setting her down beside you, then the four of you walk up the stairs and outside to begin your work.