Harvest Dungeon 10 Chapter 10 - Temptation

I stared at the orb for a few moments before I reached out to touch it and activate the store function. When the screen appeared in front of me I left my hand on the orb as I gently caressed it. I remembered the odd appearance of the orb when it had leveled up. It had been very brief but I was sure I saw symbols in the light.

As my hands ran over the orb I tried mult.i.task sorting through the screens looking for the weapons I could buy.

I had no idea why I was trying to mult.i.task like that, but I had the distinct impression that I didn't want anyone to know I was examining the orb. Maybe I was just being paranoid, then again I had been kidnapped. As I looked at the screen that held a surprisingly miniscule number of weapons I could feel that there really was something hidden on the orb. A glance at the orb told me that what I was feeling wasn't visible. Probably why I hadn't noticed it during the first couple days I was here. That and being scared out of my mind.

Having found evidence of what I was looking for I dropped my hand with a sigh as I frowned at the screen. I focused on it completely as I did need to find a weapon I could use. I knew the symbols were on the orb but couldn't look at them until I was sure I was really alone.

On the screen there were four weapons, a knife, short sword, spear, and hatchet. Nothing else. Worse it seemed these weapons weren't magical like my farm tools, and the stats on them were pretty bad. Yet if they were all I had to choose from then I should buy one and see how it worked when the next slime, mouse, or whatever showed up to take a look.

The door opened behind me. I glanced back to see if Vanessa was done so we could eat. Vanessa had indeed walked out of the bathroom, but she was only wearing a towel knotted beside her b.r.e.a.s.t.s giving me a very good look at her generous cleavage and long legs. Her hair was still damp and clung to her in a rather erotic fas.h.i.+on.

"I forgot to get a change of clothes." Vanessa said with a smirk as she walked ever so slowly across the room to a pile of clothes that had been left out in plain sight on the smaller bed. I had been to preoccupied with finding a weapon and looking for signs of symbols on the orb to notice. Though in truth it wouldn't be the first time I had been described as un.o.bservant by a woman.

Vanessa grabbed the clothes from the bed gave me another smirk then sashayed back to the bathroom. The entire time I wasn't able to pull my eyes away from her. Only after the door closed behind her was I able to blink, or breath. I shuddered as I remembered how spell bound I was by the sight.

Something was very wrong here. Yes Vanessa was incredibly beautiful, but when she wasn't in the room I could admit she wasn't any more attractive than Melissa, Candice, and several of their friends. I had spent a lot of time around beautiful women, some of which was even intimate. There was no way Vanessa should be affecting me as much as she was without some kind of external stimulant. Of that I was sure. I just had no idea what it was.

Shaking my head I returned my attention back to the screen. I had no idea what I could do to prove Vanessa was using some kind of charm or whatever on me, and even if I could, then what?

Of the weapons I decided that the spear would be the best fit for me. I honestly didn't want to get that close to any of the monsters that were out there. Plus I had spent time learning some martial arts. Which included the bo staff. I was nowhere near an expert, probably because I had wanted to learn to use the sword, but my teacher refused to teach anyone how to handle a bladed weapon. A spear wasn't a bo staff, but it was at least similar, at least more so than sword. Hopefully, with some practice I would be able to figure it out. Honestly I wasn't hopeful, but I didn't think removing the spear head would help me out at all.

"What are you looking at?" Vanessa asked me surprising me so much I felt like I was about to jump out of my skin.

I looked back to find that the bathroom door was open and she was standing only a foot behind me peering over my shoulder. Worse she was wearing a very thin black nightie that while it covered her appropriately, it clung to her curves hiding very little.

"Weapons." I replied trying with great difficulty to raise my eyes up from her generous b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"Weapons? What do you want with those?" she asked seeming surprised.

"Did you forget about that giant mouse thing earlier?" I asked. "What happens if one of those things gets through the barrier?" I asked.

Vanessa stared at me in shock for a moment then started to giggle. "They can't. The newbie s.h.i.+eld is pretty strong, a lot stronger than you are giving it credit. So strong in fact that if something does get through we are dead, there will be nothing that either of us can do. Weapons strong enough to handle such a monster would require stats neither of us have." she told me.

I frowned, that was how weapons in games worked, then again I did have a status screen and attribute points, points I still hadn't decided what to do with.

Seeing my doubt Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Yes you can wield the weapons even if you don't have the stats for it. They are more like guidelines for where you need to be too use it effectively. Given the weight of some of those weapons it only makes sense as you wouldn't be able to even lift them without the required strength." Vanessa explained.

That made more sense, I begrudgingly admitted to myself.

Vanessa giggled at my expression.

I groaned as the giggling caused jiggling.

Closing my eyes in an attempt to avoid the tantalizing view and difficult to control urges that came with it. "What about when the newbie s.h.i.+eld disappears after I reach level five?" I asked.

"That will take a while." Vanessa replied.

"I already reached level three, and that was after killing one slime and mouse!" I retorted.

"That is your own fault. You attacked the mouse yourself. It might not have caused more than a single point of damage but it was enough to register you as an active combatant which gave you a larger portion of experience when the monster died." Vaness replied.

"Huh?" I asked opening my eyes and looking at her.

Vanessa groaned. "Do you think one slime and one mouse is all your golems have defended us against?" she asked me then gestured at the orb.

I frowned thinking of what she was implying but tapped the orb and searched for information on my golems. To my surprise each of the golems that I had placed topside had already leveled up to level six. With a kill count of a mult.i.tude of dirt slime and a few giant mice. I s.h.i.+fted into my dungeon configuration and switched out my dirt golems so the one in the second floor could also gain some experience. Looking at the kill counts I noticed that each one gave the golems experience, experience that was split with me. For the most part it was a small number, all except for one where I recieved as much experience as the golems had. Vanessa had been telling me the truth and the proof was in front of me.

"So?" I asked after a while.

"So we have time to grow and get stronger before the s.h.i.+eld comes down, unless you go up there and pick fights with the monsters that can't even get to you." Vanessa replied dryly.

"Stronger how?" I asked.

"The more minions and guardians you have the stronger you are. If you can promote your dungeon to level three or even four and open those floors you gain access to more guardians and minions." Vanessa replied.

"What about the ambient mana requirements? Didn't you say if it wasn't available then the core couldn't support it? There wasn't an option for another floor." I reminded her.

Vanessa paused seeming to be in thought. "I did say that didn't I." she responded.

I nodded.

Vanessa groaned. "Seems I messed up." she told me. "When it comes to floors in your dungeon you can't have any more than the level of your dungeon. In that instance the other floors aren't available because you didn't meet the prerequisite, not because your core can't support it." Vanessa explained.

I wasn't sure what to say to that. I couldn't fault her logic, the golems were mine, connected to me through my link to the dungeon. Having more of them could only be a good thing, plus there was the minion option that I hadn't even looked at yet. "Tomorrow." I told her. "I am far too tired to even consider that until tomorrow."

Vanessa nodded. "Sounds like a plan." she replied then gave me a sultry look that was just shy of causing me to rip her thin nightie off and bending her over the closest bed. I had to close my eyes and breath a few times, I wasn't this kind of person. That was the gist of why I was sure she had to be using some kind of charm on me, why I wanted that to be the reason. I wasn't an uncontrollable beast only moments and a smile away from becoming a rapist.

"Problem Jason?" Vanessa practically purred.

"Enough!" I told her angrily, "Stop trying to seduce me Vanessa, from this moment forth you will stop it, do you understand!" I told her angrily, in the back of my mind I was sure I was being a bit unreasonable but I had never felt this out of control since my parents had disappeared, and I didn't like it. s.e.x was fun, something you shared with the person you cared for in an intimate loving fas.h.i.+on. Adding some rough play was fine if that was what was desired, but this wasn't anything like that. What I was feeling was completely b.e.a.s.t.i.a.l, an urge to take her right here, right now, her opinion on the matter be d.a.m.ned until I was finished sating myself whether that be after one round, or when the 'sun' came up, it didn't matter.

"Jason?" Vanessa asked hesitantly.

"I don't know what you did to me, but unless you want to hop up on that bed and spread your legs for me right now, no more teasing or taunting me, or that is exactly where we are going to end up and I won't care how many times you tell me to stop." I replied to her being as honest as I could. I felt like a monster saying it, and I couldn't even think of what she had to be thinking of me hearing it, but I felt the need to let her know where I was, because I didn't want to be that monster. More importantly I felt it would help with the guilt if I did eventually reach that point. I felt disgusted in myself for even thinking that it was a possibility but I didn't feel I could trust myself anymore. Vanessa seemed to be like a drug to me and the more time I spent with her the stronger my reactions were becoming. Maybe it would be better if I slept outside tonight.

"Shhh, its okay Jason, let me contact the company, maybe they have something that can help." she told me all the joking and teasing gone from her voice, replaced by what seemed to be honest concern. Then again why wouldn't she be, I did just warn her that I was almost ready to force myself onto her.

With my eyes closed I tried to rationalize it, but the only conclusion I could come up with was one I was becoming a monster, or two she had to be using some kind of spell, charm, drug, whatever to make me like her more, and it was probably working way too well, because honestly I didn't think I would be able to remain productive like this. If it kept escalating we wouldn't be able to leave the bed until one or both of us broke our hips.

"I'm so sorry Jason, it wasn't supposed to be like this." Vanessa said soothingly.

I frowned wasn't she supposed to be contacting the company? Wait, what wasn't supposed to be like this? Was I right?

I opened my eyes then froze as I saw that Vanessa was standing close to me her hand raised as if she wanted to comfort me, yet at the same time another Vanessa was standing by the dungeon orb. The other Vanessa was as naked as the day she was born, but despite her nudity I didn't notice anything except her back. On her back were black runes formed into a heart shape creating a spell that explained everything that I was going through right now, however they were runes that shouldn't be here. I could read the runes and understand exactly what the spell was meant to do and how. They were the runes in the puzzle game Rune s.h.i.+ft that I had been playing since before my parents disappeared. The magic runes from a game, the simple fact that those runes were appearing here seemed far more important than the fact that there were two Vanessas.