The Only Son Amongst The Daughters Of Eros

The moment Aeric and his team stepped into the Dungeon, they were enveloped in a suffocating darkness. It was not the kind of darkness that came with nightfall, soft and still dotted with stars. This was an oppressive void, very absolute and very alive, pressing against them from every angle.

However, Aeric was not unfamiliar with this darkness. In fact, he was rather impressed at how the Mock Dungeon had managed to perfectly imitate it. It was the same darkness that had encompassed him when he entered the Dungeon back in Starlight. It seemed like a mechanism used to terrify the challengers.

Aeric felt something brush against his hand before slender fingers wrapped around his own. From the soft feel of the skin, he could tell who it was, but glanced sideways anyway.

Celestia was holding onto him tightly, her body brushing close to him, breasts squeezing on his arm.

Her fingers squeezed his slightly, and this small act stirred something in Aeric. It wasn't the overwhelming determination to survive, but something softer — a quiet resolution to protect, a sense of response over her. Perhaps over the three other girls as well.

He straightened his back and gripped her hand firmly before stepping forward.

Slowly, the darkness began to recede, peeling away like curtains being drawn open. Then, also in slow motion, a poor, unnatural light seeped into the chamber, and revealed the First Lobby.

Aeric studied the place. The space was vast, circular, and also hauntingly cold. It seemed as the walls showed themselves, carved from dark stone veined with glowing crimson lines, the colder the room became.

Strangely, there were suspended chandeliers of rusted metal hung precariously from the ceiling, holding clusters of flickering, ghostly flames. This wasn't a cave apparently, it was designed as some kind of room. In a home.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Even the air gave off that assumption as well, it smelled faintly of iron and something earthy, damp, and old.

In the center of the room, broken pews and overturned tables lay scattered, as if the remnants of a forgotten battle or something even more eerie like an unexpected attack.

Skulls were on the floor, bones as well. These possibly belonged to the family members who once lived in this home.

'What an interesting lore for a Lobby,' Aeric thought. 'They really put a lot of effort into this. Way more than I thought.'

Shadows stretched unnaturally long across the floor, their edges seeming to shift when unobserved.

"Ah yaya, what happened here," Nyx remarked. "DDD?"

Aeric looked at her. "What is DDD?"

Nyx turned to him, raising her brow. "Really? DDD? Death During Dinner? You don't know?"

Aeric half rolled his eyes and sighed, walking past her towards the broken pews.

"Really? No one?" Nyx shrugged at Celestia and Phoebe.

Aeric studied the broken furniture, and then he turned around and saw a large bag against the far wall, cinched tightly at the top.

"That should be our supplies," he said, gesturing toward it.

"Yes!" Nyx moved toward the bag with a casualness that seemed misplaced in the eerie surroundings. She crouched down and tugged the strings loose, throwing the bag open. Her dark blue eyes gleamed as she sifted through its contents.

"A sword?" she scoffed, lifting the blade with two fingers as if it were something foul. She turned and lobbed it toward Aeric without warning. Explore more at empire

He caught it effortlessly, the weight of the weapon settling comfortably in his grip. After studying it a bit, Aeric decided to go ahead and use it.

Nyx pulled out a pair of daggers and even a mallet, but discarded both those weapons. Then her grin widened as she pulled out a halberd with a gleaming, sharp edge. She swung it experimentally, the blade whistling through the air. "Now this — this is exactly what I like."

Celestia knelt beside the bag and searched for anything useful. She wouldn't need an attacking weapon since defense was mostly what she was going to do.

Nevertheless, after searching for a while, she retrieved a small vial containing a shimmering golden liquid. "Shield strengthener," she said, holding it up briefly before tucking it into her belt.

When everyone was done searching for something in the inventory, Aeric took the bag of the remaining supplies and handed it to Misty. "Think you can manage this?"

Misty nodded hesitantly, gripping the bag tightly. "Y-yes."

Aeric turned to leave but stopped halfway and looked at her. For a moment, he studied her, his gaze searching her lowered, nervy face and squeezed body. "Listen, you sure you doing okay?"

"Ehh?" Her eyes lifted up but darted low straight away. "Nngh! I'm fine, Aeric. Yes."

Aeric frowned but decided against pressing further. Misty was always acting strange and nervous around him, but today was much more excessive than usual.

Well, whatever. Shaking the thought away, he turned to the group.

"So, what now, Team Leader?" Nyx asked, her voice playful but with a tinge of seriousness.

Aeric stopped, looking deeper into the dark room. 'If we step any deeper the Lobby is going to activate and we begin our fight. But we're going to need seamless teamwork if we're gonna win this thing.'

He looked at the four girls. "We need to share details about our Classes, and Main Skills so we can know how each of us calibrate it into battles and perform our roles."

Nyx eye brows squeezed slightly. "I don't think that's very fair now, is it?" she countered, crossing her arms. "Especially since you can't even tell us yours."

Aeric sighed. "It's not by choice. The Laws of Divinity prevent me from revealing my Class or Skills until they're officially Declared. I'm bound by the same rules everyone else is."

He continued, his tone softening. "But understanding each other's properties is crucial. Even if I can't share mine, we're gonna have to salvage it because we need to make sure we're working cohesively."

The four girls all exchanged glances before Celestia said she agreed with Aeric, it's important to know their Skills if they're going to work together.

Aeric had gathered this knowledge from Alzera in his secret Dungeon Challenge, the way she had perfectly explained each member of the team and their separate Class and Main Skill.