Chapter 347: CH. 355-356: Growing Delusions
The wind brought the magic stones to Asahi. The dungeon's fury died as if it didn't care about him being there.
'Dungeon-chan isn't sending me a juggernaut in red ribbons?'
Asahi wondered if he was too hard on the dungeon sometimes. It had stopped sending juggernauts or creating black monsters for him.
(It knows you're too much.)
Asahi snuffed the spark of life from the serpents on his back and found his mana reserves to be almost full.
(My love's wind elemental affinity is great!)
'My worst affinity should be water.'
He rarely used the water element. The fire element was most used.
He turned around to find the girls approaching. He half expected Riveria to be awed, but she looked more curious than shocked. All the awe went to her daughter instead, whose golden eyes gleamed with a bright look. Asahi's ability to manipulate winds reminded her of her mother, even though they were nothing alike.
"Onii-san's Ariel?" Ais asked before she shook her head. "Ariel… is weaker."
Watching him from closer made her realize his enchantment had merged with his skin, unlike her Ariel enchantment.
Asahi placed a hand on her head. "No, but it's similar. You'll learn it when you're strong enough."
Ais's face brightened up as she gave a heavy nod
"What is this skill?" Riveria asked. "The magic power is so… intense. Is this a Diva's power?"
His jade-colored skin reminded Riveria of the Great Wind Spirit from the library in her family.
'Beings closer to gods. Spirits are children of gods.'
Her guess turned out to be wrong.
"No, it's my own," Asahi said. "I'm essentially a wind spirit in this form."
Ryuu compared her skill to his new form and shook her head. Although she wielded wind magic, it wasn't comparable to the demigod.
"You're… such an anomaly," Riveria said with a sigh. "Why do you even want to teach me?"
"Because I like Mom." He grinned. "Do you want to be left behind by Ais?"
Riveria already knew Ais's potential, so she could only give a bitter smile at his words.
'...Did he just say he likes me?'
Riveria didn't know what he wanted from her. On one hand, he said he liked her. On the other hand, he won't stop calling her Mom.
"What will you teach me?"
Riveria relented her stubborn heart.
"Let's see. I'll teach you how to control elements without the chants."
Riveria breathed in a heavy sigh. "That's, I can learn it?"
Ryuu wasn't surprised. Nearly every woman in Asahi's harem used magic without any chants.
"Sure can," he said. "Ryuu, do you want to learn as well?"
Ryuu shook her head. She already owed him so much, and she didn't wish for any more favors.
Shiori patted her back. "Why not? You can help us more if you become stronger."
Shiori winked at Asahi as she pushed Ryuu to accept his offer. Asahi sneakily caressed her butt with his wind, feeling her texture without actually touching her.
'This form is sick.'
Asahi became more brazen and began feeling Shiori's nape, slipping inside her dress. Shiori shook visibly, a sight that Riveria didn't miss. But she dismissed this as a prank of hers. Aimi silently watched the whole thing play out, keeping her hands on her waist. She blended in perfectly with the background, so much that it concerned Asahi. So he caressed her cheeks affectionately.
Meanwhile, Ryuu couldn't help but think that Shiori didn't offer this out of kindness. Everything sounded shady when Shiori was involved.
'I-Is she going to drown me in gratitude then offer me to Asahi to repay?'
Not-so-nice delusions ran rampant inside her head, giving her cheeks a lovely blush. She didn't know why this scenario came up in her head, but she did know that they were unhealthy.
'I shouldn't…'
She snuck a glance at Asahi. The worst thing was she could vividly imagine sitting in Asahi's lap while he nipped her ears between his lips, playfully teasing her with sweet whispers.
'No… just no!'
She denied her thoughts.
[—Ryuu: Affection +3]
Yet her affection increased.
Asahi dismissed the notification before he continued observing Ryuu's blushing face. She was having some perverted delusions for sure, one that obviously involved him.
'Erofu.'
(Erofu!)
Even Riveria had an uncomfortable expression in front of Ryuu's current state. Her fellow elf seemed to be daydreaming.
"A-Alright. I'll be in your care," Ryuu said and bowed her head. "Please make me stronger… so I can protect my Familia."
It should draw a line between them, or so she thought.
Asahi grinned at the thought of seducing two elves at once. "Nice. Since everyone is here, let's explore the 60th floor."
"Aren't you going to stop this transformation?" Riveria asked. Usually, any transformation spell puts a burden on the body, which was the case with Ottar's transformation technique.
Asahi shook his head. "I can keep this up forever."
He wasted no time and teleported to the 60th floor.
A gray sun hung high in the sky, casting its murky light upon the lands infested with lush trees.
60th floor.
Once a land claimed by eternal winter, it lost its power when the corrupted spirits arrived here. Now it was a forest with towering trees.
"It looks mystical… A perfect place for a date." Rika murmured in awe as she followed Asahi into the forest. "Ideal place for afterdate sex."
Her blatant words made Ryuu blush. Riveria covered Ais's ears and glared at Rika.
"Please don't talk like that before Ais."
Nao frowned. "Please think outside of Asahi-kun's pants while we're in the dungeon."
"Yeah, Rika. You're getting hornier every day," Asahi scolded. "I feel worried as your future husband."
Everyone scolded Rika one by one. She shook her head, disappointment written all over her face.
"It's my right to receive my future husband's seed every day," Rika retorted and nodded sagely. "Am I wrong, Nao? Can you go a day without Aa-chan's love?"
Nao gave Asahi a long stare before she shook her head. "I can't."
It had become a part of her life, just like Aiko.
"No need to get all touchy now," Asahi said and patted their heads. "They noticed us."
He pulled out the spear of Leonidas. As though answering his words, the mutated Virga shrieked in the distance. Aimi wielded her daggers as her red eyes stared into the forest.
"Ryuu, pass me your sword."
Ryuu stared at Asahi in confusion. The monsters were coming here, why was he asking for her weapon? She did what he asked, looking at him for an answer.
"Let's see."
Asahi enchanted the blade with anti-corrosion. He could give better enchantments when he returned home.
'I forgot about Alise's sword!'
(Oh! Blame Hephaestus for seducing you!)
'Yes.'
Asahi returned the sword to Ryuu. "It wouldn't melt in their acid now."
The party shuffled through the forest.
Asahi sensed the monsters coming from every side as though trying to surround them. The mutated caterpillars appeared, carrying sizzling acid in their mouths. As much as he loved to see clothes slowly melting, this certainly wasn't the way to do it.
The repulsive sight caused Nao to flinch.
"I hate them," she whispered to herself, but Asahi picked it up just fine.
The brunette held herself back from slicing the disgusting insects into pieces.
'Facing my fears is the best way to grow.'
Asahi combined the wind and life element to form a giant palm and flattened the horde on one side. He slammed down the palm three more times to wipe out what should be the majority of the monsters on this floor.
[—You have leveled up!]
On top of making him level 38, the sixty-plus monsters filled his progress bar by fourteen percent.
As the monsters disappeared, Asahi exhaled a sigh of satisfaction. "That was refreshing."
He was confident of defeating Ddraig in this form. He had yet to unleash the full potential of every element then create new techniques. With Element Fusion, nothing stopped him from making something absurd.
'The Boosted Gear. I'll meet Ddraig after this.'
He decided to reach the sixty-ninth floor today, which might raise his level by 2 at the very least. The caterpillars may be disgusting, but they gave an exceptional amount of XP due to the Arcanum in their bodies.
Riveria sighed at the spectacle of Asahi's raw power. She thought she had seen his limits, but he crushed those thoughts once again and showed her something more ridiculous.
Rika scratched her head. "Aa-chan, don't use that to kill bugs in our home. I'm serious, you know. Don't stare at me like that…"
Asahi shook his head. "These insects are boring."
Ryuu stared at him. "You didn't give me a chance to fight?"
If he had to massacre them like this, he shouldn't have upgraded her sword.
"No need to get your elf ears up, girl," Rika chided Ryuu. "Fighting with these bugs might melt your clothes."
The scenario played itself in her mind. Her hands flew around to cover her naked body, a gust of embarrassment turning her skin voluptuously red. Asahi eying her, his golden eyes burning with unconcealed lust for her. Never had she seen anything more unusual, yet something about his face tugged at her heart.
"Heh, what if she wants to be seen naked by Asahi?"
Shiori poked Ryuu's fantasy bubble. Snapping back to reality, Ryuu felt everyone stare at her. Riveria was curious, Shiori even more. Ryuu shrank from Rika and Asahi's all-knowing grin. They knew her delusions. The lustful thoughts that invaded her mind from time to time were laid bare in front of everyone.
'They know about it…'
Ryuu felt a strong urge to unsheath her sword and plunge it into her own heart.
"Ryuu," Asahi said and placed a hand on her shoulder. Asahi's hand brushed past her ears and fell on her head. He caressed her blonde hair with a soft look in his eyes. "It's okay. Ryuu is beautiful. I'll definitely burn your figure in my brain."
He could already tell how delusional she had grown. It was perhaps a trait of elves in this world that made them this way. One thing was for sure—Ryuu became aware of her feelings.
'I'll strike during our lessons.'
Ryuu saw the melting kindness in his eyes. His comforting words didn't help her at all. "Stop! I will never do that!"
Asahi said nothing and simply showered her with non-lewd headpats. However, her innate lewdness acted up, giving her weirder fantasies she never knew she had. The source was Asahi as everything happened when he was near her.
Ais shuffled up to Asahi and tugged at his shirt. "Onii-san."
Ryuu saw Ais's pure and innocent eyes, and shame washed over her.
'We're in the dungeon. Why am I having these thoughts?'
She blamed Shiori for giving her a shimmer of hope.
Ais didn't reject his pats and relaxed in the warm feelings.
Once Ais was content, Asahi led them toward the exit.
Nobody here had any idea about how far the corrupted spirits stretched their tentacles at this moment. All they could do was travel further down and kill the monsters blocking their way; every monster was some kind of mutated plant guarded by the caterpillars. Asahi gave others time to shine, especially Ryuu since she seemed more motivated to fight than ever.
He kept his senses at full throttle for tentacles that tried to ambush them last time, which raised his 'Multithreaded Processing' to C-Rank.
The party ran over monsters until they arrived at the end of the 68th floor. Contrary to his expectations, he had reached level 41 with 47 percent into the next level.
All in all, today's boon was more than he expected.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone