Azaria 22

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Chapter 22: Delicious Frenzy

Azaria

“She sure works fast.” 

Starburst scoffed. “Well. She is a greedy human after all.”

“I know but at least her goals align with ours,” I said taking a serious voice. I couldn’t hold it and burst out laughing. Starburst joined me in my humor. 

“I guess it’s time to work,” he said moving towards his room on the first floor.

“Maybe they’ll actually get to you this time.”

Starburst was technically the first boss of the dungeon. His room remained locked until after Stella and Lucy were defeated. He was eager for the first party to finally be able to challenge him. I waved him off then moved over to Stella in her boss room.

She sensed my presence and bowed towards me. “Mistress.”

“How are you feeling?” After the party that killed her had left the dungeon, she had been recreated from the Aether. Thankfully, the cost was barely a tenth of the cost of creating her initially. Otherwise, there might be a point where she would stay dead until I managed to gather enough Aether.

She flipped open her fan and hid her mouth behind it. I knew she was upset from being the first to be defeated. I’d told her not to worry about it, but her and Lucy were very prideful. 

“I am alright. The lose of level is a slight annoyance. My penguins and I will be getting our revenge on the next party.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure which room they’ll head towards first but give them your all!” I pumped my fist in the air trying to cheer her up. She gave me a nod just as I felt my consciousness start to move to the music room. 

Looking around the semi-transparent room, I didn’t see any new instruments. I moved over to the violin. Again, the trance like state started to wash over me. I focused on controlling my hands and was able to resist it for a few seconds. I felt like that was progress.

Today, I decided to play some Mozart. I placed the bow on the strings and played the first note. Soon, a twisted version of Mozart was flowing through my dungeon. I wanted to sigh in some disappoint, but I couldn’t even do that. 

My attention went to Lance’s party. They made their way through the lobby section with ease. By now the traps were common knowledge and people only triggered them in carelessness. According to Starburst, I could revamp them, but I didn’t want to kill more than I had to. I felt something twitch inside me when I thought about killing. 

I could make the dungeon instinct content with the planned killing we were doing right not, but something told me that this might not be the case for long. As my power grew, so did my dungeon instinct. I would need to find something to fight the urges growing stronger inside me.

I refocused on Lance. She was hanging back ever so slightly from the group. Anyone looking at them like I was could tell she was an outsider of this group. Still, they looked like a reliable party from the outside. 

A man with a large shield and covered in leather armor led point. He was a moderate sized man that had a pretty strong presence. This he was more along the lines of forgettable if he was mixed in with a crowd. I looked at him with the same magic I put in Lance’s earring. Greed almost physical leapt from him. He didn’t care what or who he had to kill to get more money.

A man using a bow stood slightly off from the man on point. His aura was similar to the first. Even his greed couldn’t compare to the first man’s though. I could tell that he’d killed people to achieve his goals. 

Next was a man dressed in gray robes. Walking near Lance, he wielded a staff and Aether dripped from him. For the first time since I became a dungeon, my mouth started to water while I watched him. I wanted to kill this man so bad and take his essence into myself. Even as I was aware of what I was doing I couldn’t stop myself.

The music in the dungeon shifted as it grew darker. My minions all sensed my hunger. They knew I wanted the man dead. I noticed from the center of my trance as Stella’s eyes grew a blood red. As did all her penguins. They burst from the rooms as well as the boss room as the charged the party in the middle of the hall. There was no stopping it now.

Surprised by the sudden change in the dungeon, they couldn’t react completely. Another man I hadn’t noticed was pulled from the circle the party had formed into the sea of penguins and torn apart. The others of the started to strike down the frenzied penguins but for everyone they slain another took its place. 

“Die! Die! Die!” I chanted in a whisper. I wanted that man! He must become mine!

Lance activated something and fought off the penguins that had circled around them. Her being off from the main party saved her life. She was able to get further from them and they ignored her as they all went after the man in gray.  

After a struggle that lasted around three minutes, the entire party was dead. The man in gray collapsed from a penguin’s sword embedded through him. He taken out most of the penguins with spells that left half of the hallway a smoldering ruin. I ignore that and focused on his body. 

I didn’t hesitate and absorbed the body. Aether flowed through me like I’d never experienced before. I moaned in pleasure at the sensation spreading through me. With Lance the last one standing, I was able to stop playing. I wrapped my arms around myself and squirmed as the warmth flooded through me.

“Azaria!”

I came out of my euphoria and realized that Lance had been yelling for me. I moved over to her then realized she wouldn’t be able to see or hear me. I glanced at the violin in my hand. I concentrated and used some Aether to summon a doll that looked like me. I could do it near her, but I was able to do it in a nearby room. It was created with the idea of me being able to control it with my violin.

The just a bit bigger than a hand doll formed in front of me. I checked it, then nodded as I pulled my bow across the strings. The doll jerked then gained strength as I grew used to using this method to control it. It jarringly walked out into the hallway.

I held down one of my violin’s strings. “Lance. Over here,” I said into the violin and the sound came out of the doll. She moved over and picked the doll up. 

“This is kind of creepy.”

“You use a mirror lately?” I snapped at her.

“Whatever. This isn’t what we had agreed on. I know I only survived that because I escaped early.”

“That is exactly what we agreed on. I can’t protect you in here. Against the rules, as it were,” I replied crossing the dolls arms. The warmth from early surfaced again. “Who was the man in grey? Can you get more like him?”

“A mage. An addict technically, unlike the few people that came in here so far. He was a level three associate. Needed some cash to finance his Aether hunger. You might start getting a few of them every now and then.”

“More! You should get more of them!” I said not hiding the desire in my voice.

“We have our deal. I’ll do my part. Speaking of, can you adjust this armor. It is a bit loose on me.”

“You’ll have to take it off and step back about three meters. I would recommend doing that in your room,” I explained then pointed with the doll to the windows. They were covered but you never know.

“Will do.”

After I fixed Lance’s armor and she left the dungeon two more parties made their way inside. One managed to defeat Lucy, but not Stella. My undefeated buff was getting up there. Starburst warned there would be a cap to something like that, but even he didn’t know where it would be. 

The second one got to the first mid-boss and decided to turn back. I couldn’t hear what was said but it sounded like they chickened out. When I looked out at the ticket booth as I started to call it, there seemed to be another party that was arguing with the guard but was forced to leave for the day. 

The longer my dungeon goes without a night shift the better. Having people inside me during the day was annoying enough. I looked out and noticed that there was a full moon.

“Starburst! Look at the moon. Even after a year, at least that hasn’t changed.”

“Indeed. A beautiful full moon… Girl brace yourself!”

I blinked in confusion as I jerked my head to look at him when a white light wrapped around me. Panicking as I looked around, I was surrounded by hundreds of creatures. That’s when I realized I had a solid form. 

I noticed a few humans in the mix, along with several people that were similar to humans but with different features. One man had long ears, while a woman had big leathery wings on her back. I blushed when I looked at a naked woman that looked mostly human but had two horns on her head.

Many of the people weren’t wearing any cloths, but stood as if it didn’t bother them. My wandering gaze landed on a creature that looked like a standing cow with a human midsection. His… tool nearly touched the ground it was so long. I covered my eyes and quickly looked away.

Thankfully, a person started to float in the middle of the gathering drawing all eyes on to them. A man that had a golden halo and large golden wings rose into eh air. “Welcome cores to the Moon Gathering! This is the thirteenth time we’ve seen each other since we began our mission.”

I glanced around. While it looked like everyone was listening intently, I felt only a few of the creatures present were comprehending what was being said. Most of the gathered reminded me of robots that hadn’t been told what to do yet.

“Let us speak to one another and learn from one another. All for the glory of cleaning the filth from this planet.” The man raised a cup into the air. I blinked and nearly dropped the cup that had appeared in my hand. I copied everyone else and raised the cup into the air as well. 

The golden man vanished into a burst of light and everyone broke into small groups. I glanced around wondering what the hell I was supposed to do when the cow man entered my sight. I gulped when he walked right up to me. I tried my best, but it was hard to keep my eyes off his equipment.

“You are… new. Never new before,” he said breathing out a large puff of steam.

I felt two arms wrap around my waist and jerked my head to see the naked woman with horns drapping herself on me. “Leave her alone, you brute.”

“Excuse me. What’s going on?” I asked unable to pull myself from the woman. I was wearing a dress but the back was completely exposed so I could feel every inch of her touching me. It reminded me of silk. 

“The Moon Gathering, my dear. You must be sixty-four! I’ve heard rumors of you from my divers. I’m twenty-one. The minotaur is seven.”

“Nice to meet you. Umm, could you perhaps let go?”

“OH! My bad! I can’t resist touching innocent girls.”

“Thank you, I think.” I backed away making sure not to look away from her face. 

“Twenty-one. Know this?” Seven asked gesturing at me. The simple motion was enough to cause his tool to swing. I carefully took a step away as I didn’t want to get hit by it.

“Yes. You know who is likely involved. She was dormant for a year. Not sure if that’s why there’s more going on upstairs than the others,” Twenty-one said crossing her arms. 

“You know who?” I asked. I wondered if it was Terleza that she was talking about.

“I can’t say her name here. Leads to all sorts of trouble. You,” she glanced around then leaned in close to my ear. “Have your previous memories, don’t you?” Aside from her breath causing a shiver to run down my back, her statement also caused me to panic. I just looked at her, as I wasn’t sure what the right move would be. “Good. Never say yes to that question. If certain people found out. You’d be erased before you became a problem.”

I was about to reply when there was a burst of light from the center of the room. Twenty-one rubbed her hand down my butt, almost touching something that would have earned her a slap in the face when she walked away with a giggle. Seven also walked away. 

“That is all for tonight. We’ll see each other in a month!” With a boom. I opened my eyes and found myself back in my dungeon. Looks like there was more going on then anyone knew. If I wanted to stay alive, I needed to shape up. Mainly, I needed to not break anything else.