That night, I couldn't test the effects of the Succubus skill, Vigor Enhancement, because Roxane had her period. Still, I could easily pamper Seri multiple times without the Succubus skill, and I had plenty of kisses with Roxane, so I had no complaints.
Finally, I kissed Roxane for a long time and lay down on the bed. I stretched out on my back and then pulled Roxane close again.
As I breathed slowly, Seri entered the bed. She must have put on a new negligee. Seri lay down next to me. After a while, Seri spoke to Roxane in a low voice.
"Have you fallen asleep?"
"It seems so. Master falls asleep easily."
I wanted to say that wasn't true. I read somewhere in a magazine that to make a woman happy, one should focus more on afterplay than foreplay. That's why every time, after we were done, I kissed her thoroughly and held Roxane like this until morning.
Hmm?
Maybe I can't argue with that. It would be better to pretend I'm asleep.
"Yes, it seems so."
"Seri, you must be tired too. I'm sorry for pushing you."
"No, it's not that I dislike it."
You don't dislike it.
That's good. If you don't hate it, it's just one step away from liking it.
"Is that so? Hehe."
"K-Kyaa, I was surprised today."
She's trying to change the subject.
Seri changed the topic.
"Yes, I didn't know Master could do such things. But, Seri, did you really become a blacksmith?"
"Huh? Well, I fused the Monster Card, so there's no mistake."
"Is that so? Yes, that's right."
You didn't believe it.
"Fusing Monster Cards often fails, so I'm worried."
"Are you worried?"
"Yes, very. I've heard many bad stories."
It seems that's the problem.
"Is that so?"
"If failures continue, slave blacksmiths are often expelled, punished, or resold."
I might want to try punishment.
Here, let me give you a little punishment.
"It's fine. Master, after all."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, it is."
"You seem to be a very impressive person, or maybe not."
Are you talking about me?
"You are a very impressive person, Master."
You're talking about me.
Roxane lifted only her head.
She faced Seri.
They will probably talk like they did yesterday.
We are usually together during the day.
There are few opportunities for her to talk freely with me.
We talked a little at the clothing store today, but maybe it wasn't enough.
It's better for them to have a good conversation than to be on bad terms.
There are probably things to talk about as women.
It would be rude to interfere.
I fell into a dream alone.
In the morning, I woke up hugging Roxane.
As expected, Roxane is an excellent body pillow.
Her body is soft, her back hair is smooth, and her chest has good elasticity.
The feeling of hugging her is wonderful.
My legs were stretched out, entangled with Seri's on the opposite side.
It was a slightly unnatural position, but I didn't feel any discomfort, so I don't think I hurt any muscles.
As I moved my body slightly to check the situation, Roxane kissed me.
She seemed to have woken up earlier than me, even though she stayed up later.
Roxane always wakes up earlier than me.
Or maybe she's just a light sleeper.
I pulled Roxane close and enjoyed the elasticity of her mouth and chest simultaneously.
I entangled her tongue and led it into my mouth.
Roxane's tongue moved actively, invading my mouth.
After thoroughly enjoying it, I released her.
"Good morning, Master."
"Good morning."
"Oh, good morning."
Seri seemed to have woken up too.
I released my left arm from Roxane and pulled Seri close.
Seri kissed me.
Our tongues entangled.
Since I made her drink the medicine by mouth yesterday, Seri's tongue has become slightly more active.
I moved slowly, invading Seri's mouth.
"Good morning, Seri."
After thoroughly enjoying it, I released her mouth.
Today, we will move to the eighth floor of the Cullathal Labyrinth.
After preparing our equipment, we warped to the seventh floor of the Cullathal Labyrinth.
"The boss of the Slow Rabbit is the Rapid Rabbit. It's a troublesome monster that moves quickly. It can avoid magic and skill attacks, so it's better not to use them. Be cautious as it tends to become a prolonged battle."
On the way, I heard the boss information from Seri.
"Surrounding it with three people might be difficult."
"That might be true. I think it's better for me to fight with a spear. Swinging a hammer would be too large a movement and probably be avoided."
We went to the location of the boss room to confirm it.
We had a rough idea from the exploration map.
We peeked into the waiting room, but no one was there.
I was worried about the prolonged battle, but it seems there weren't many people early in the morning.
"Let's hunt a few more Slow Rabbits. We'll go to the imperial capital after breakfast today. Roxane, find some Slow Rabbits around here."
"Understood."
Roxane shared a white negligee with Seri, so we need to buy more.
We'll go to the clothing store in the imperial capital and sell rabbit fur as well.
That's half the reason, but the real reason is that Seri is a blacksmith at level 1 and I'm scared.
"Seri, since you just became a blacksmith, don't overdo it."
"Understood."
"I don't think you'll be defeated in one hit by a Slow Rabbit, but if you're worried, we can go to a lower floor."
"No, I think I'll be fine."
The effects of the Hero job, such as moderate HP increase and moderate stamina increase, should be affecting Seri, so her defense shouldn't be paper-thin.
It was fine with the villagers yesterday, and it should be fine with the Slow Rabbits.
We'll see how it goes during the boss battle.
We could switch to the Explorer level 10 job.
We hunted for a while around the area.
"How are the monster attacks?"
I asked Seri when she was attacked by three of them.
"I'm fine."
"Compared to yesterday?"
"Well, it's tougher than when I was an Explorer yesterday."
That's understandable.
Yesterday, Seri was a villager, not an Explorer.
"Can we handle the boss battle?"
"I think we can if we try hard."
It seems risky.
If you say you can if you try hard, it usually means it's impossible.
It might be worth testing if it's just a test, but in the labyrinth, failure means death.
Since this boss moves quickly, we should consider the possibility of receiving consecutive attacks.
"Let's go to the boss room, but just in case, I'll switch Seri's job back to Explorer level 10."
"Can you do that?"
"Of course."
I changed Seri's job to Explorer level 10.
It was a good thing I didn't give her the Explorer job yesterday.
If Seri had been an Explorer for a whole day, she would probably have reached level 12 or higher.
The Explorer level can be determined by the size of the item box, so if it had been checked, it would have caused another strange problem.
We prepared Durandal and entered the boss room.
Rapid Rabbit Level 7
A rabbit with a slightly reddish body color appeared.
Its size was the same as a Slow Rabbit.
I raised Durandal and rushed over.
As I swung it down, the monster dodged to the right.
It's fast.
Roxane chased it to the right.
The Rapid Rabbit ran to the right, suddenly kicked the floor, and changed direction by ninety degrees, trying to ram into Roxane.
Roxane switched positions and deflected it with her shield.
"Seri, over there."
The rabbit, which had been deflected, ran towards Seri.
Seri prepared her spear and waited.
She attracted the monster and thrust her spear.
At that moment, the Rapid Rabbit jumped to the side.
It dodged the spear and changed direction, charging at Seri.
Seri stumbled.
Switching to Explorer level 10 was the right choice.
The red monster then came towards me.
It's fast.
I prepared Durandal and waited, but it changed direction just before me.
"Damn. So quick."
I swung hastily but missed.
I was hit by a body slam on my exposed side.
Oof.
It was quite a shock.
If I were a blacksmith level 1, it would have been really bad.
The rabbit ran towards Roxane.
In the meantime, I cast healing and plating on Seri and me.
The monster jumped into the air, preparing to body slam.
Roxane deflected it with her scimitar.
I see.
That timing.
Or rather, that kind of timing.
It seems quite difficult to attract it.
If it gets that close, I don't have the confidence to dodge the body slam.
The deflected Rapid Rabbit ran towards me.
As it approached, I chanted Firestorm.
With an area attack spell, it can't be avoided.
In the midst of the fire, the rabbit paused for a moment.
Even a monster will flinch when hit.
I took the opportunity and swung Durandal.
Whoosh.
It dodged again.
So far, only Roxane has hit it with physical attacks.
Maybe I should just use area attack spells.
However, I don't know how many it will take.
For a level 7 regular monster, it would take five. As a boss, it would need three times that.
I've already swung Durandal several times at Pahn.
Can I finish it off to the end?
It might be tough if I can't recover MP with Durandal.
The rabbit attacked again.
This time, I tried to attract it more.
But I was hit by a body slam.
I recast plating and healed myself.
I need to save some MP for healing.
The Rapid Rabbit moved in a zigzag pattern towards Roxane.
It can move like that.
It jumped to the left, then to the right, and pretended to pass by, but then flew to the left.
Just before, it changed direction and pounced on Roxane.
Roxane took a half-step back, swayed slightly, and avoided the charge.
As they passed each other, she swung her scimitar from below, deflecting the rabbit.
Roxane's movements seem to be superior to the Rapid Rabbit's speed.
Roxane alone might be able to shut it down.
It's not clear how long it would take, but it's possible.
The deflected monster landed.
Seri's spear thrust towards it.
The rabbit was hit from the side and rolled over.
"Got it."
"Wow, impressive."
"You thought it through."
Indeed, the Rapid Rabbit can't change direction in mid-air when deflected by Roxane.
It seems the Rapid Rabbit can't change direction in mid-air.
If you aim for that, you can hit it.
It's an attack that can only be made with a spear, which has a long reach.
Seri is smart.
The monster quickly got up and ran towards me.
Following Roxane, Seri also hit it.
I can't keep missing.
I attracted the Rapid Rabbit.
To the limit.
Really to the limit.
To the point where I would definitely be hit by a body slam.
I confirmed the rabbit jumping and chanted Overwhelming.
Suddenly, the monster's movements slowed.
I slowly moved away from the body slam path and circled to the side.
I taught it that speed isn't everything.
"Chester."
I slammed Durandal into the rabbit.
The Rapid Rabbit was blown away.
It was a one-hit knockback.
It's a shame there's no follow-up attack.
I probably absorbed enough MP to use Overwhelming.
This significantly reduced the possibility of losing.
When it approached again, I swung Durandal from above.
I slammed the rabbit down.
Immediately, I swung a second time.
The Rapid Rabbit was deflected and rolled over.
It felt more like the monster took a good roll.
It's quite close.
The second hit might not always work.
Well, there's no need to force it.
I've absorbed enough MP with one hit, so I just need to calmly repeat the process.
The situation is almost over.
After deflecting it a few times, I sent it flying towards Seri.
Seri didn't let it escape and thrust her spear.
The Rapid Rabbit came towards me again.
It changed direction in a zigzag pattern.
Maybe it's recognized as a tough opponent.
However, no matter how it tries to confuse me with its movements, it doesn't matter to me.
I just need to wait for the moment it jumps for a body slam.
Feh, too easy.
I chanted Overwhelming the moment it jumped.
The Rapid Rabbit's movements slowed.
It was too close to dodge, but I calmly waited.
I swung Durandal over it.
I deflected the Rapid Rabbit.
The monster fell to the ground.
It might have been too close to dodge head-on, so I couldn't send it towards Seri.
The rabbit didn't get up.
It finally seemed to run out of strength.
The Rapid Rabbit disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Rabbit Meat
The only thing left was the rabbit meat.
It seems to be a regular drop for a boss, while it's a rare drop for a Slow Rabbit.
"Is there a skill called Chester? I've never heard of it."
Seri picked up the item and brought it to me.
"No, it's not a skill name."
"But I couldn't see the movement."
"It's a skill called Overwhelming. Have you heard of it?"
"No, I haven't. You have a wonderful skill."
Respect shone in Seri's eyes.
After twenty-five years of being a master, this is the happiest I've ever been.
"It's not something to be known by others, so keep it secret."
"Ah, yes. That's right."
I don't need to warn Seri.
Did the first emperor not use Overwhelming?
Or did it not get passed down?
"You are impressive, Master."
Roxane also praised me.
"Thank you."
"Even I almost lost sight of it, it was an amazing movement."
She almost lost sight of it, not that she did.
It seems Roxane clearly saw the movement of Overwhelming.