Miyra and I walk back into the city holding hands. Well, it’s more like her hand swallowing mine, but whatever. Surprisingly the skin on her hand is soft, almost like Kiki’s. I can’t help but wonder if that’s a catkin thing, or some kind of effect of mana in their bodies.
As we walk, I hear some older women gossiping as they walk behind us,
“—chess Velteria’s daughter, Alessia, has been wed to the prince!”
“Oh my, that is quite the pairing… Surely you’ve heard the rumors about the prince?”
“Yes, quite… I can only hope this ends up being a good pairing…”
They break off from their stride, walking into a nearby café. Alessia, huh? Something about that name just sticks with me. Miyra and I get to the guild and turn in our quests. Apparently, I’d turned in enough to advance to the next full rank, so I can finally take some actual quests instead of some hunting jobs.
After she finishes pressing it, the receptionist hands me back my card, now plated with bronze instead of brass. On the front reads [BRONZE I]
Miyra, too, holds up her own tag, showing me it. She’s at Bronze II.
“Look, Arty! We match!”
I chuckle and float up a bit so I can pet her head, earning a few stares from the people around us, but I don’t really care. After a petting session, I turn to the receptionist and ask her,
“So, do I have to take a request for clearing a dungeon for it to count for my rank?”
She thinks for a second before shaking her head,
“No, you don’t. We usually don’t get quests to clear dungeons to begin with. Most of the time, if a dungeon is a problem, the military clears it out then occupies it for training purposes.”
Hmm. Makes sense. It’s a relatively controlled environment to give soldiers actual life or death experience. I ask her,
“What should we bring back as proof if we clear a dungeon?”
She reaches behind the counter and pulls out a black crystal about the size of a thumb, tied to a necklace.
“Two things. One is the drop from the boss. We buy it off of you and give you a reward for the clearing. Alternatively, if you’re clearing a dungeon with poor rewards, you can use this. This crystal fills up with the energy released from a dungeon boss. It changes colors depending on the strength of the dungeon cleared, or the amount of dungeons cleared. When you turn it in, you get paid based on the color of the crystal, as well as how bright that color is.”
She pulls up a diagram showing the crystal colors. It starts off yellow, then goes red, green, blue, purple, silver, gold.
I look at the crystal for a bit while asking her,
“So, do you give these out or do we have to pay for them? Also, why does it only fill up when you kill the dungeon boss? What if there’s multiple mid-bosses?”
She nods her head and answers me,
“We do require a deposit of ten gold for each necklace. That gold is returned when the necklace gets returned. As for why it only fills with the death of bosses, that’s because the regular monsters of the dungeon don’t have an actual physical body. They’re more similar to high-grade illusions or physical projections. Bosses on the other hand have their own physical bodies, and are resurrected by pure dungeon mana every time they die. That mana stays trapped inside their body and is released on death. The mana released by regular monsters is just barely enough for your body to absorb, so the amount absorbed by the crystal is next to none.”
She takes twenty gold from me as I hand it to her and continues,
“Ah, thank you. As for your last question, yes, mid-bosses count. Any monster that is considered a boss monster will contribute to the crystal, though the final boss contributes the most. Normally the final boss will be worth anywhere from two to ten times more than the mid-bosses depending on strength. Also, you can turn in both the dropped item and the crystal at the same time if you wish.”
I nod my head and tie the necklace around my neck before tucking it into my shirt. I lift the shirt forwards to drop it in, only to see both the receptionist and Miyra trying to peek down my shirt. I blush and almost clutch my chest before I remember I don’t have breasts…
Ahem… anyways.
I thank the receptionist for the explanation and walk off with Miyra. I turn to the big, lovable Amazonian catgirl and float up just taller than her before tying the necklace around her neck. Her little ears flick the air cutely as my breath tickles them. I let out a chuckle and scratch behind them, earning a quiet mewling sound from her.
Fuck, why am I surrounded by the cutest people with the cutest ears and tails imaginable… Whatever god gave me this life… Thank you… I guess Ishtar did, kinda? Praise Ishtar! Or something…
After some thorough petting, I bring Miyra with me out of the city. Surprisingly, she’s obediently held my hand while we walked without even asking where we’re going. Honestly, kinda feels gross, but at least I’m not doing anything nefarious! I’m helping her gain strength!
So, I bring her into the woods… Ugh…
Fuck it, let’s skip to the dungeon.
We arrive at the entrance to the dungeon, with Miyra practically vibrating with anticipation. I think for a second and decide to give her the sword and armor I got from Baraqiel. I help her equip it, and she ends up looking like a gallant golden paladin, who happens to be an adorable big little kitty.
When she holds the sword, her eyes sparkle and she swings it around happily, causing a loud whooshing sound and kicking up dust. After getting a feel for the weight, we head inside. As we enter I tell her,
“I want you to try to clear it on your own at first. If you ever have any trouble, I’ll jump in and save you, but this is all to train you, okay?”
She nods her head at my words and gives me a happy smile before taking off ahead of me. I’m hoping that her battling will not only increase her strength stat, but also her mind stat bit by bit. I just hope it’s her low mind stat causing her to act so childishly.
I know that my own growing mind stat doesn’t seem to have affected my actual intelligence all that much, but who knows.
I follow after her, seeing her easily tearing through some goblins with the sword I gave her.
One tries to slash at her ankle, but she just ignores it, letting the blade bounce off her skin before slashing it in half from the shoulder to the hip.
Another charges in, only to be skewered by the blade, which is so wide that it also got cut in half. Two more meet the same fate as she turns on a dime, sending the blade through one’s skull and the other’s neck.
One manages to jump onto her back and begins stabbing down with its little shiv. Which, obviously, does nothing. She casually reaches back and grabs the goblin by the head before flinging it over her shoulder and into the ground, breaking its neck on impact.
The last one raises its club and charges, only to be met by the flat side of the blade. It goes flying off, dead.
…
Kitty got claws.