Facade

"Hyaaaaah~!"

Swinging her hammer down on the head of a 6m-long quadrupedal monster with a broad beak and a heavily armored back with bony horns, plates, studs, and a clubbed tail, Zarah attempted to kill it in a single blow. Unfortunately, while she managed to smack the monster's head into the ground, it didn't splat.

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Name: Rokuhl

Species: Shale Euoplocephalus

Gender: Male

Age: 3

Title: Sturdy(Resistant to impacts and blunt-force trauma)

Class: Rockeater(Common)

[Attributes]

Level: 19/28

HP: 14,492/20,500

MP: 54/198

Str: 79

Agi: 15

Vit: 162+238

Int: 9

Dex: 11

Cha: 13

Talent(s): [Rocky Carapace:(19/28)], [Lockjaw(19/28)], [Resilience(17/35)], [Shedding(8/20)], [Lesser Regeneration(4/19)]

Skill(s): [Bite(MAX)], [Defense Curl(7/10)], [Tail Hammer(5/10)]

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Though the rebound from her full-force blow left her momentarily unable to move, her arms and hands becoming numb, Zarah didn't panic. This was the sixth Shale Euoplocephalus she was fighting, so she had already established a standard baseline for how the creature would respond to a given threat. When struck in the head, instead of using its powerful, rock-crushing jaws to bite forward, the Shale Euoplocephalus would invariably attempt to protect itself by turning and swinging its massive hammer of a tail, giving her ample time to recover, dodge, or prepare a counter.

Matching Zarah's expectations, the Shale Euoplocephalus began to twist its massive body. Before it could turn more than a few degrees, however, Cairn used Shield Bash on its pivot leg, briefly stunning the dinosaur-like creature, causing it to cry out in pain and be knocked off balance.

Taking advantage of their quarry's vulnerable state, Kaia leaped into the air, benefitting from the Dungeon's inordinately high clearance to fling one of her arrow-like projectiles, infused with Mana, toward its exposed flank.

"Uraaaaaaaaaaan-!"

Still alive, even after having a destructive pulse of Mana released directly into its body, the Shale Euoplocephalus cried out in pain. Cairn winced in response, but Zarah's expression remained cold, borderline emotionless, as she raised her hammer like a rail worker intending to drive a stake in a single blow, smashing the hapless creature's head and causing it to burst into a large cloud of hazy, brackish-purple mist.

"Another one bites the dust~" mused Zarah, shouldering her hammer staff before looking to Cairn and asking, "What are you waiting for? Hurry and gather up the loot. If the Dungeon is at risk of an outbreak, you can tell by the amount of Mana stored within the materials dropped."

"I'm well aware," said Cairn, making his way over and bending down to scoop up what looked like a large curved bone and several spines, each made of porous, cool-to-the-touch stone.

Raising her right brow, Zarah asked, "You don't seriously feel bad for the monster we just killed, do you? There are outliers like Tarou who possess a burgeoning intellect, sure, but most monsters are just constructs bound to their Dungeon of origin. Sentimentality has no place in an environment designed to kill you."

"I'm aware of that as well," replied Cairn, rising to his full height, towering over Zarah as he added, "But it's normal for someone to feel guilty when a living creature, construct or otherwise, cries out in pain."

Nodding in approval, Kaia appended, "I'll be sure to infuse more Mana into future strikes."

Rolling her eyes, Zarah droned, "Knock yourself out. But if you're exerting yourself more than you need to, it will increase the time we're down here. Some of us have jobs outside of exploring Dungeons, so I'd rather not be stuck here for weeks when we have several others to explore."

"Does it matter...?" asked Cairn, adopting a cheeky smile as he remarked, "You're only here to get a foot in the door with FreeCo's President, right? The longer our investigation goes, the better your chances."

Clicking her tongue, Zarah elected to walk away instead of attempting to argue. The Subterranean Spire was known for housing several species of rock-type monsters, so she wasn't overly concerned about being caught off guard. Rock-type monsters were among the slowest and stupidest of all creatures. The most dangerous were those that used mimicry to blend in with their environment, but with the benefit of her Analyze, Cairn's increasingly peculiar intuition, and Kaia's sensitive ears, the odds of them entering an ambush unawares were slim.

Seeing Zarah swagger off for the umpteenth time, Cairn closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose. This was supposed to be a trial run to see if Zarah meshed well with their party, but her overtly 'snobbish' behavior was starting to grate on him. He believed she was putting on a front so as not to appear weak, but that didn't make it any less annoying...

"Tarou..." muttered Cairn, prompting the chubby, predominately blue rat to appear from the interior of Kaia's hair, head tilted and nose twitching as it responded with a curious "Squee...?".

As this was their third day in the cavernous, seemingly infinitely spiraling Subterranean Spire, Cairn had come to learn many things about Zarah. Thus, without the need to communicate, he slipped a thumb-sized piece of silvery metal to the hateful rodent, causing its eyes to shimmer as it ate the entire thing in one go. Then, with almost phantom-esque speed, it descended from Kaia's body and darted toward Zarah, swift and silent as an owl in flight.

"You son of a—nooooooooooooooooo~!"

Feeling a familiar sensation run up her leg, Zarah initially exclaimed before screaming loudly and stamping her foot like someone trying to dislodge a roach from their pant leg. Despite being a half-Lionel, a species known for their courageousness, the mane-haired woman had Musophobia, a fear of rodents.

Escaping from the back of Zarah's dress, Tarou leaped behind a row of stalagmites before she had a chance to smash him with her hammer. That didn't stop her from smashing the rocks to pieces, but Tarou was well out of range, prompting Zarah to scream, "Damnit, Cairn! I know you put him up to it...!" before rushing over to him with her hammer raised.

Raising the shield attached to his left arm, Cairn intercepted Zarah's blow with a grunt. A spherical shockwave rippled out from the point of contact, but that was half the reason he antagonized her.

*Ding! Shield Mastery has increased to 28!*

'Nice...!' thought Cairn, even as Zarah continued to assail him. It might seem like she was genuinely upset with him, because she was, but this had become a fairly common occurrence between them. So long as he could endure her assault until her anger petered out, it would be his win. If she managed to land even one hit on his unprotected body, it was hers.

With a Hammer Mastery nearly on par with Cairn's Shield Mastery, Zarah began putting less and less strength into her blows, permitting her to spin her oversized hammer-staff like a baton. Getting through one of Cairn's shields wasn't that challenging, but because he wielded two, she had no choice but to calm down and focus if she wanted to break through them.

Unfortunately for Zarah, her bouts with Cairn always included an element of 'randomness.' She could predict his movements, but when she tried to create an opening by kicking off against his shield, a pain surged through her leg as the Retaliation effect of his Aberrant Aegis activated.

Seeing Zarah hiss as her HP decreased, Cairn thought to follow up but decided against it. Instead, he stepped back a few times to create some distance, allowing Zaraha to recover and loosen her grip on her staff until she was holding the very end of it. Then, in a massive overhead blow, she struck the ground where he had been standing, creating a sizeable crater that sent shards of stone flying in every direction, including her own.

Though her outfit was slash-resistant and shock-absorbant, it ultimately didn't matter as the shards of shrapnel that struck Zarah rebounded off a pale green barrier comprised of runes that covered her entire body. As for Cairn, he just blocked them with his shields.

Shouldering her oversized hammer, Zarah adopted a pouty expression, staring at Cairn with narrowed eyes as she asked, "Are you looking down on me?"

Adopting a smile, Cairn replied, "Luck might be a part of a person's skill, but if I'm going to dominate you, I'll do so directly."

Smashing his shields together, Cairn intended to continue the fight but stopped his charge short when Zarah stood her ground, closed her eyes, and sighed. Cairn lowered his shields, but before he could ask what was wrong, Zarah released her hammer, leaving it hanging in the air as she moved like a blur to punch him in the diaphragm. She used to aim for his face, but after learning of the existence of his Okami's Visage, she gave up trying to wipe the smug expression directly from his face.

"Oof—!"

Utilizing her Rank 25 Martial Arts and Rank 15 Human Studies, Zarah swiftly struck the central line of Cairn's body several times in the blink of an eye. She didn't put much power into each blow, but she infused Mana into them, forcing Cairn onto his ass before she promptly mounted him, undoing the fastener of his mantle as she questioned, "So, you think you can dominate me?" with narrowed, predatory eyes.

As Zarah had knocked the wind out of him, Cairn was unable to respond to her with words. Instead, he released his hold on his shields, allowing them to clatter to the stone floor of the Dungeon before placing his hands on her ass and giving it a firm squeeze.

"Cheeky bastard..." muttered Zarah, her lion-like tail flickering behind her. Then, even though they were presenting in the middle of a Dungeon, she leaned forward, trusting Cairn to disable his helmet as she kissed his lips. This was also a common occurrence between them, so as the duo began to disrobe one another, Kaia issued a rare, protracted yawn before laying out a blanket, taking a seat, and preparing to knit...

...

..

.

Though Zarah started with an advantage, it wasn't long before Cairn had the golden-haired beauty panting like an animal on all fours, drooling as he drilled her from behind while squeezing the base of her tail. She had learned a lot about humans and sex during her self-study, but rather than acquiring resistance against it, her misguided 'training' had only made her more sensitive.

"Oh...fuck..." groaned Zarah, resting her forehead on her right forearm as her pussy clenched against her will, her entire body shuddering as Cairn bottomed out in her and released his fourth load. His Rank 23 Bedroom Arts and Shadowflame allowed him to keep going, but because his Mana was only a fifth of its maximum value, he gave the trembling Zarah's ass a light smack and teased, "You look pretty conquered right now..."

"Hurry and fuck off..." responded Zarah, but instead of moving or kicking Cairn away from her, she closed her eyes and continued wallowing in the afterglow of her orgasm. She didn't know if it was because of his Bedroom Arts or something else, but whenever Cairn came inside her, she felt like a powerful drug had been released into her system.

"Mmm..."

Instead of doing as he was told, Cairn began moving his hips slowly and probingly. He wasn't planning to go another round, but he felt 'compelled' to tease Zarah after such a response. A heavy shudder wracked her body as he did so, but that only incited him to keep going, poking various spots inside her startlingly hot pussy to find where she was most sensitive.

Realizing what Cairn was doing, Zarah half-turned onto her side, staring back at him with her hazy golden eyes, remarking, "You're really...playing with fire..."

"I have very high fire resistance," replied Cairn, adopting a cheeky smile. While this was true, it was also true that his 'aggressive' ministrations had been stoking Zarah's Lionel instincts. She 'knew' he didn't regard her as a potential mate, but the more he teased her, the more she felt the urge to take matters into her own hands...

...

..

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(A/N: Sorry for the massive delay. I got caught up with another project and real-life stuff while waiting for my ID to arrive. It still hasn't, but I'm going to start posting at least daily chapters. If the novel ranks highly in the power stone polls, I could increase the rate to 2-3 chapters per day, but that depends wholly on community feedback and interest.)