"Why did you give it such a wild name, Reika?"

Her ears perked up at the question. She stopped for a moment to think before blurting out the funniest thing I think I had ever heard.

"We’re retrieving a new women for you aren’t we..." a second thought began to form. "Actually, she’s for everyone right?"

I had to stop and think about the question a bit more than I wanted to while walking toward such a destination.

"Honestly... if we come out of this with hair on our bodies still I’ll count us lucky," I said laughing at the thought of a bald Reika. "Your fur is most likely highly flammable, please, please, please make sure you are absolutely taking the most caution that you can."

I turned toward the fleet of women behind me.

"That goes for all of you, we don’t have a clue what we’re getting into." Putting emphasis on my words to convey the situation better. "I don’t want any of you getting hurt, we haven’t truly even tested these new skills."

I called for my dick shaped system screen to overlook some of the new skills and check the connection percentage. It obliged and opened up my full skill sheet.

[ Adrian Bater LVL: 34 ]

[ Mana Link Established ]

[ Party Bond Rank ⅗ ]

[ Shared Mana Synchronization: 53% ]

[ Permanent Link Established To: Reika/Valka/Celeste ]

[ Note: IF SYNC LEVEL DROPS BELOW 30% MANA USE MAY BECOME UNSTABLE ]

"We need to hurry as well," I said, turning back toward the giant tower looming in the background. "Our dragon princess is waiting,"

With the sound of all in agreement, we increased our pace.

The giant tower wasn’t just looming; it was actively oppressive. It was a single, jagged spire of black rock that clawed at the sky.

The tower was a single, jagged spire of black rock that clawed at the sky, looking less like it was built and more like it was stabbed into the earth. It had a single, massive entrance at its base.

A pair of imposing, stone doors carved with snarling dragon faces. But the whole structure felt wrong. The air around it shimmered with an intense heat, the doors gave off a vibe that screamed ’obvious, magical trap.’

"This is it?" Celeste asked, her voice small. "The Tyrant Dragon’s Tower? It’s... scarier than I imagined it would be, feels like it’s putting off it’s own pressure."

"No kidding," I muttered, my hand instinctively going to the sword at my hip. "Okay, new plan. We find the door, we knock politely, and we ask if the princess is home. Anyone have a better idea?"

"I do," Reika said, her voice suddenly sharp. She had stopped walking. Her entire body was rigid, her head tilted to the side like a hunting dog. Her tail, usually swaying in a lazy, confident rhythm, was stick-straight and pointed at the ground.

"What is it?" Valka asked, her hand already resting on the hilt of her own weapon.

"She’s not in there," Reika said, her nose twitching. "Not in the main tower. The scent... it’s old. Burnt stone, old magic. But her scent... it’s fresh. It’s... this way."

She turned away from the towering monolith and started sniffing the air like a bloodhound, her head low to the ground. She began pacing in a tight, frantic circle around the base of the tower, her claws clicking on the rocky ground.

"Reika, what are you doing?" I asked, getting nervous. "The princess is supposed to be in the tower. That’s the whole quest."

"The quest is wrong," she growled, not even looking at me. "The scent is faint, but it’s here. It’s coming through... here!"

She dropped to her hands and knees, pressing her face against the base of the tower where a massive block of black stone met the foundation.

It looked like solid, seamless rock to me, but Reika was scrabbling at it, her claws scraping uselessly against the surface.

"It’s a crack," she panted, her ear pressed against the stone. "A tiny one. I can smell her. Flowers and... something else. Something scared. She’s behind here." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Valka strode forward, her expression a mixture of impatience and intrigue. She knelt, running her own powerful fingers over the spot Reika indicated. "It’s a glamour. A powerful one." She stood up, cracking her knuckles. "A simple enough solution."

"Valka, wait—" I started, but it was too late.

She drew back her fist, dark energy crackling around it like black lightning. With a roar that seemed to shake the very foundations of the tower, she slammed her fist into the solid rock face.

The sound was less of a crash and more of a shatter.

A web of glowing, purple cracks spread out from the point of impact, the illusion peeling away like old paint.

With a groan of protesting stone, a section of the wall about ten feet high and seven feet wide crumbled inwards, revealing a dark, narrow passage descending into the earth.

Dust and the smell of damp earth billowed out, along with that faint, sweet scent of flowers Reika had noticed.

My dick-shaped system screen flickered to life, its pink glow a stark contrast to the dark opening.

[ QUEST UPDATED ]

[ OBJECTIVE: THE TYRANT DRAGON’S TOWER HAS BEEN BREACHED ]

[ NEW QUEST OBJECTIVE: RESCUE THE PRINCESS FROM THE HIDDEN PASSAGE ]

[ NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: DOMMY MOMMY’S DEMOLITION ]

[ DESCRIPTION: YOU HAVE WITNESSED VALKA’S POWER. YOUR ABILITY TO INTIMIDATE AND BREAK DOWN OBSTACLES (BOTH PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL) HAS BEEN PERMANENTLY INCREASED. ]

I stared at the new skill name, then at the hole in the wall, then at Valka, who was dusting off her hands like she’d just opened a stubborn jar of pickles.

"Okay," I said, peering into the darkness. "New plan. We go through the creepy, hidden passage in the ground. That’s always the best action in an RPG"

Celeste looked at me with a look of confusion. "What’s an RPG?"

"Uhhhhh nothing... don’t worry about it, I was just speaking out loud." Trying to sound convincing.

As we entered through the hole, the shift in mana was immense. Wherever we were headed felt super charged, I couldn’t help but worry for my companions.

A few minutes into our walk through the decorated halls my system alerted me.

[ DANGER: UNKNOWN MANA SIGNATURE FOUND ]