Morning came, and the girls woke up feeling refreshed except for Rebecca, who kept reminiscing about sex. Hiro spotted some wolves patrolling the area, but they ignored the camp. Hiro did not bother to chase after them either. After getting dressed, the girls ventured into the next dungeon.
Unlike the neat, man-made stairs from before, this dungeon entrance was a narrow crevice leading underground. At first, Hiro doubted whether this small opening was actually a dungeon, but when a monstrous, worm-like creature with countless teeth emerged from it, his doubts vanished. Only dungeons could spawn monsters.
"I don't like tight spaces…" Nana complained because she couldn't use her bow there. The rest of the girls nodded in agreement.
"I don't like it either, but we need to clear this dungeon." Rebecca sighed.
After killing the worm that had lunged at them, Cecile cautiously crept into the dungeon. The worm was huge, it spanned a meter wide and was more than 5 meters in length. But in this world, such monsters were considered normal. They didn't bat an eye after killing them and moved on. The crevice opened into a large, straight tunnel. This time, there were no tree roots obstructing their way.
"Now that I think about it, if Hiro had a mouth and teeth, he'd look kind of like that worm, right?" Rebecca muttered.
Hiro immediately slithered toward her and playfully wrapped a tentacle around her neck, Trying to imitate someone who gives a chokehold. He didn't have a body, so his tentacle might look like a scarf instead. This insolent brat had been getting cocky ever since she grew stronger as a mage.
"Geh! Sorry! I didn't mean it!" Rebecca yelped after tapping the tentacle that wrapped her neck.
"Rebecca, that's mean," Cecile scolded her.
"I was only telling the truth!" Again, Hiro gave her a chokehold. How could she compare Hiro with that monstrous worm? Hiro was a worm before, but even then, he was not that creepy.
"What are you saying? The color is different! Moreover, Hiro can change his size and shape at will! There is no way that worm would bring pleasure as Hiro does." Nana pouted, raising her voice to make her point.
"Ah, well… Sorry! It was just a joke! You know that, right?" Rebecca tapped Hiro's tentacle with her finger again when she realized Hirp was not releasing his hold.
Unlike the previous dungeon, the monsters here were unfamiliar but not particularly strong. Inside the tunnel, another worm came out and Nana immediately fired her arrow at it. It went deep into the worm's soft flesh, causing red blood to gush out. Cecile held it at bay with her sword, and before long, the worm died from blood loss.
After a while, five goblins appeared, each wielding crude wooden clubs. Before they could even reach Cecile, Nana swiftly took down three with her bow, leaving only two to engage in close combat.
Hiro yawned. The group was handling these monsters so effortlessly that he didn't have to do anything.
"Finally! A normal dungeon!" Nana, who had struggled the most in the previous dungeon, jumped for joy at how easy these enemies were.
"We're in a dungeon. Even if goblins seem weak, where there's one, there's bound to be a hundred more," Rebecca cautioned as she moved closer to Elysia, who had already begun summoning skeletons to stand guard. Goblins were known to proliferate like cockroaches. During a stampede last season, Hiro experienced being surrounded by a horde of goblins. But with his parasitism, no matter how many goblins there were, Hiro wouldn't lose.
Hiro observed the party setup with slight concern. Nana could function as a rear guard, but her agility often drove her to close the distance with enemies, sometimes leaving Rebecca vulnerable.
As if on cue, more goblins began crawling through the tunnels while several worm-like creatures burrowed up from the ground.
"I'll hold the rear," Elysia said as she continuously summoned skeletons. Hiro noticed that her undead minions were a match for the goblins, but Hiro recalled they were just a bit weaker than a soldier before.
"These skeletons were much stronger when I fought Elysia back in the village," Hiro mused to himself.
The dungeon Elysia had been born from was now dead, cutting off the steady mana supply that had once strengthened her. Now, her mana core could only absorb ambient magic from the air—a limited and far weaker source—resulting in a decline in her abilities.
Hiro slithered out from Elysia and nudged her cheek. She tilted her head in confusion for a moment before realizing what he was suggesting.
"Should we use Hiro?"
"Against goblins? We'd be a laughing stock!" Rebecca protested, swinging her staff and bashing an incoming goblin's skull.
"No one's watching. It's fine to rely on your comrades," Cecile countered.
"Ugh… I just don't want to be lazy and leave everything to Hiro. I want to do something!" Rebecca huffed.
Hiro slithered out and rested a tentacle on her neck. She might act like a stubborn brat, but her words resonated with him.
He was a useless NEET once. He understood the feeling—wanting to be needed, wanting to prove your own worth.
Rebecca had finally gotten stronger. She is now a proper mage worthy to be recognized as a knights, so she wants to use her power. She wanted to prove herself.
Fireballs rained down upon the horde of goblins and worms, reducing them to a gruesome pile of charred flesh. Soon, the surviving monsters retreated deeper into the cave. Hiro tilted his tentacle, perplexed by their unusual behavior.
"Hm? They're retreating."
"Be careful. They might be setting up an ambush," Rebecca warned.
Hiro stiffened at the mention of traps. The word alone sent a shiver through him. He had died because a robber broke into his house and ambushed him and his sister. In a way, that had been a trap, too.
Determined to protect his hosts, Hiro slithered ahead of Cecile, forming a vanguard. He swept his tentacle across the cave floor, feeling for anything unusual. He had no skill in detecting traps, but that didn't matter. Even if he triggered one, as long as it only harmed his tentacle and not Cecile, it was worth it. He could regenerate his tentacle indefinitely, as long as he had nutrients.
"Kya!!"
A worm burst from the ground, latching onto Cecile. Unlike the massive, meter-long worms they had fought earlier, this one was much thinner—more like a rope than a creature. It coiled around her leg and sank its fangs into her thigh.
Hiro went on the offensive. He would not allow anything else to bind his girls. He latched onto the worm and activated his Parasitization skill.
"Cecile!"
Nana rushed forward, daggers in hand. Just as she was about to reach Cecile, another rope-like worm shot out from the ground. Thanks to her incredible dexterity, she swiftly sliced it apart before it could coil around her.
Watching Nana handle the worm so easily, Hiro wondered why Cecile hadn't done the same.
The answer became clear moments later—he was in her way. His tentacle that was entwined with the worm was obstructing her sword. Cecile didn't want to harm Hiro, so she merely used her hands to pull the worm away.
He was about to pull back when he realized something—the worm was weakening. Even with his meager stats, he could feel it loosening its grip, So he didn't pull back and continued grappling with the worm. Afterward, the worm finally died and Cecile helped Hiro remove the corpse that was entwining her body.
Hiro winced as he noticed the scar left by the worm on Cecile's thigh. However, there was no time to cast Flesh Mending on her, as another horde surged from the tunnel walls. Nana had already drawn her spear and engaged the advancing goblins, while Elysia summoned more skeletons to hold the line.
Deciding to get serious, Hiro activated Mitosis, separating himself from Cecile and forming a monstrous mass of writhing tentacles. Like something out of a Cthulhu horror story, he used his entire Cell Storage to create an army of tendrils, coating their tips with iron to form razor-sharp, elastic spears. He lashed out in every direction, skewering goblins before they could encircle the group.
Parasitism was most effective when his tentacles were inside a target, and Hiro had already mastered the art of splitting and branching his tendrils. The more enemies that fell, the more his tentacles multiplied, piercing and subduing them with relentless efficiency.
The worms, however, were not idle. They lunged at Hiro, latching onto him like the parasites they were. He wasn't the only creature with parasitism in this world. These worms buried their serrated mouths deep into their prey, sucking blood and gnawing away at flesh.
But no parasite in existence could surpass a parasitic tentacle when it came to draining life. The moment they made contact with Hiro, their life force was sapped instead. Hiro sighed, feeling disappointed that his Nutrient Storage didn't increase—these worms were worthless. Nevertheless, he still got more nutrients from Goblins.
Within moments, the horde had been wiped out. The tunnel was now littered with the dried husks of goblins and worms, their corpses shriveled and lifeless.
"Amazing! Hiro really is a symbiote built for fighting hordes!" Cecile exclaimed, throwing her arms around one of his fleshy tentacles without hesitation or disgust. She had grown accustomed to Hiro that she could embrace Hiro without any remorse. Hiro was amazed by how adaptable these girls were.
Hiro dismantled the monster cores inside the fallen creatures before returning to Cecile's womb. As he reabsorbed his tentacles, he cast Flesh Mending on Cecile's thigh, erasing the wound completely.
"We need to be more careful next time. If it weren't for Hiro, that horde could have been a real problem." Nana scanned the area again, spear at the ready, just in case another surprise was lurking in the shadows. "I'll take the vanguard."
"Sorry. I thought it would be safe since Hiro had already checked the floor. I never expected to get ambushed like that." Cecile sighed, nodding in agreement.
"I know. These worms can differentiate between human footsteps and Hiro's. I'm faster. If these worms come, I can use my dagger to fend them off," Nana nodded. She had seen how Hiro had slithered a good five meters ahead of Cecile, tapping the walls and ground in search of traps.
Alas, no further enemies spawned in this dungeon. The team soon arrived at a large arena where a white glass orb hovered slightly above the ground.
"Where's the boss monster?" Cecile braced herself.
But even as they approached the core, the dungeon showed no reaction. No monsters appeared—not even when they stood right next to it.
Most dungeons had a boss monster. However, sometimes dungeons expended all their energy creating monsters to keep intruders at bay, leaving them unable to summon a boss. This dungeon was one such case.
"Should we break it?" Cecile asked.
"Of course. That's why we came here in the first place," Rebecca retorted.
"But this jewel is so pretty... Can't we just bring it home?" Cecile pouted.
"No. Dungeon cores are intelligent. If we let this one be, it will gather power and trigger a Dungeon Break all at once. If we bring the core back to Quantora Village, it could summon an entire monster army inside the village while we're not looking," Rebecca scolded.
She then explained further.
There were past cases where kingdoms tried to keep dungeon cores intact, believing they could endlessly mine the dungeon's resources and monsters. However, every single time, the dungeons eventually triggered Dungeon Breaks that devastated castles and cities.
At first, the cores would appear dormant. But in reality, they were quietly accumulating mana, waiting for the moment they could unleash chaos.
The most infamous case was Castle Finch—where a dungeon core remained "dormant" for nearly thirty years. The people celebrated its presence, believing it contained an endless gold mine.
However, it had caused a sudden and massive Dungeon Break one day, annihilating the town built around it overnight and devastating the entire country. Only through an impromptu alliance of the old kingdoms were they able to mitigate the disaster. Because of this, every military academy drilled into its students that a dungeon core must be destroyed at all costs.
"I see... What a shame," Cecile sighed.
She then swung her sword, shattering the core in a single, clean strike. The crystal cracked upon impact, splitting in two and instantly killing the dungeon.
Their efforts were rewarded with another level-up—not just for the girls, but even Hiro had leveled up.
[Level up achieved!]
STR: 38 → 41
DEX: 38 → 40
MAG: 0
[You have leveled up to Level 16!]
[Choose an upgrade:]
Acid Production
Parallel Thought
Magic Sense
Meanwhile, the girls—except for Elysia—had each leveled up twice.
[Cecile has leveled up to Level 23]
Level: 23/100
STR: 96 → 116
DEX: 98 → 118
MAG: 4
[Rebecca has leveled up to Level 23]
Level: 23/100
STR: 13 → 15
DEX: 17 → 19
MAG: 67 → 78
[Nana has leveled up to Level 24]
Level: 24/100
STR: 45 → 55
DEX: 165 → 180
MAG: 3