Chapter sixty Six: Foxy Pheromones

So, what do you expect when you hear the word kitsune? Something relating to foxes of coarse. Then you add a bit of magic, multiple tails, a humanoid appearance, and you begin to have some form of expectations of what they look like.

Thus, when the illusion disappears and several dozen beings appear, you can bet that most likely Quasi wouldn't blink an eye. After all, the hired [Hero] has lived many lifetimes and has seen a great deal of things, both magical and not.

So when women with various numbers of fluffy tails appear, all looking to have a rather clear asian heritage, you can only imagine how little this would affect Quasi.

Unfortunately, nothing is ever simple.

“Ughhhhhhh,” Quasi groans loudly.

“Seriously? You all couldn't be bothered to actually wear clothes? Something to at least cover your lady parts?”

He wipes his face, “goddammit, I can feel my stupid libido going off.”

And just as surprising, his words find themselves causing confused looks to form upon the faces of the naked women with fluffy tails, fluffy ears, and patches of fur on their arms and legs.

One such woman with six tails, all with stripes of green on each tail, begins to sniff the air. Her eyes widen as she turns to the only kitsune with nine tails.

“Volpe, he is releasing some rather potent pheromones. I believe he wishes to mate,” she says.

Volpe raises an eyebrow as she continues her now curious gaze towards the man. After all, humans, if the knowledge past down from generations is to be believed, should not be able to produce such a thing.

With but a thought, she activates her [Advanced Analyse] skill, and to her complete surprise, finds it not fail. Instead, it merely does not work. She tests it on the other two, the female human is a level 102 [Priestess] while the Gejan is a 176 [Berserker] that she feels she had met before but cannot remember.

“You, what are you?” she asks the man who continues to whine like a child over such a thing as nudity and clothing.

“I am-”

“Patriarch!”

Volpe swivels her head towards her sister Yeosa who had yelled.

Yeosa continues.

“I sense many gods upon him. Five marks are active, one is not. The one that isn’t is from our Goddess Himiko.”

Her words are said and heard by all the women, each beginning to talk, many repeating the words Patriarch and Savior.

Of course, during this whole time, a certain [Hero] struggles.

_____________________________

Did she just fucking say pheromones? Why the fuck am I producing pheromones?

It's Loki. Its fucking Loki isn't it?

I suppress my emotions while taking deep breaths. The women are attractive, every single one of them is. Which makes this whole thing so difficult to deal with. I’m barely able to focus on the conversations going around.

Something about gods, marks, Himiko, and of course the word Patriarch. Can't forget that.

Gazing at them while holding my emotions, I begin to ascertain what I am dealing with.

Advanced Analyse Partially Successful.

Rimika

Level 210 [Electromancer]

One of the Kitsune, Rimika has six tails and is a master in the manipulation and creation of electricity. Two of her tails resonate with wind mana, two with Light mana, one with earth mana, and one with fire mana.

200… fuck. What about the others?

Astarte level 189 [Magmamancer]

Eirime level 232 [Grand Geomancer]

Reita level 273 [Grand Biomancer]

Ok, ok, dont fuck with the Kitsune. Each and everyone of them can fuck me up. Especially the ones with lots of tails. They seem to be higher level.

My gaze continues on each and every one of them. I memorize their classes and levels, all easily blocking my skill from getting the full information regarding them.

Except for one. She seems to not block my skill, the reason alludes and frightens the living shit out of me.

Volpe the Unending Storm

Level 371 [Elementalist]

Volpe is the Matriarch of the kitsune. She is the strongest of them and the only one who has been named. She has obtained her name after creating a multi-elemental storm that wiped out all life on the fifth dungeon floor. She is currently the only kitsune that has the full nine tails.

Strength

11

Dexterity

29

Stamina

28

Perception

111

Endurance

14

Vitality

792

Mana

6705

M/regen

16.4

Affinity

4

Intelligence

231

Willpower

876

Soul

1733

Charisma

131

Resistance

17

Minor Blessing of Himiko: Elemental Affinity is increased by 10%.

Like seriously. She is almost level four hundred. And what the heck is that class and those two new stats. Is she able to control all of the elements or something? More importantly, she is named. Jessica said that named people could single-handedly wipe out armies. Which begs the question, how big is the fifth floor…

“No, don't touch that. It will ki-ll...me.”

A bit of mana is sensed near me and I turn towards a very dumbfounded Jessica. Her gaze on the naked Kitsune next to her. In her hand is the [Necklace of Enslavement].

“hmmmm, this is a rather interesting enchantment. There are many orders and restrictions on it. Did you make this?” the kitsune asks me.

Did she just remove the necklace without it going off? Did she just deactivate it while I wasn't looking?

Jessica continues to look bewildered while her hands are touching her collarless neck.

[Advanced Analyze]

Fuyeko

Level 183 [Grand Enchantress]

Fuyeko is a three tailed kitsune who specializes in enchantments. She is currently the lowest level of all kitsune due to a lack of enchantments for her to study and practice.

Ok, that makes sense considering her class and level. Removing and disabling such an enchant would probably be child's play for her.

“Nope,” I say as I remove the [Ring of Enslavement] from my finger and hand it to her,” but I’m glad you removed it from her. This ring is connected to it.”

She takes the ring from my hand. I sense a release of mana a second after. Her eyebrows widen, ”Oh, I see. It's made of metal. The enchant seems to use a constant supply of mana to suppress the explosive enchant on the collar. Mmmm, very interesting. Metal seems to be effec-”

“Thank you!”

The Kitsune named Fuyeko is interrupted as a crying Jessica rams into her and gives the women a hug. Tears are flowing from her eyes while Fuyeko looks utterly perplexed and unprepared over what is happening.

Scratching the side of my head, I look to Zorren who looks on annoyed at the whole situation. The Kitune are talking among each other, many pointing in my direction and pretty much ignoring me. The one named Volpe is talking to another Kitsune by the name of Yeosa. Her levels are similar to the others as is her class.

Yeosa

Level 221 [Chancellor]

Yeosa is a loyal follower of the Goddess Himiko. She has four tails and is respected and revered by all of the kitsune.

Her words regarding marks and gods might dictate a better understanding over the marks on my body. Which, as far as I know, don't do anything.

Feeling a bit peeved at being ignored, I raise my hands, activate [Loud Voice], and then clap.

“BOOOOOMMMMM”

A loud wave of sound is creating which quickly silences everyone and turns their gaze towards me.

“My name is Quasi Eludo and I am a summoned [Hero] that has been tasked with destroying the world. I have entered this dungeon to create an army, level up, and of course to conquer it,” I pause a moment to make sure all are listening, ”considering your levels, I can already guess that you have tried to leave but have failed. Thus, if you assist me, then I will lead you out into the world outside.”

As I finish my words, I look around and am greeted with expressions of interest and confusion. Not exactly what I was expecting. Especially the laughing which begins a moment after.

It starts with Volpe and then spreads to all of the others. Laughter and giggles, all of which are directed at me.

Why is it that my expectations are always shattered. Can I just get one day where everyone behaves like they are supposed to?

The one named Yeosa walks up to me alongside Volpe,the laughter slowly dying down, her smile radiant and very distracting… as is her body.

“It seems you do not realize why we laugh,” she exclaims as she stops before me. Her hand extends and touches my arm. It moves up to my shoulder, then on my back and finally stops at my lower back.

“Here… take off your clothes Patriarch. Show us the mark.”

Really woman? Your naked and putting your hands on me. And now you want me to undress? Have you any idea how difficult it is to keep my boner in check?

“Yeosa, I do believe any more contact with him will force him to lose control. He reeks of wanting sex and your touch is not helping.”

Yeosa turns and looks to Volpe,” Can you not suppress him?” she asks, but Volpe shakes her head.

“His aura is extremely thick. Thicker than any I have ever felt. I seem to not be able to affect him at all.”

“Just put some clothes on,” I say while biting my lip.

What the fuck is this. Why is this so fucking hard? Am I going mad again?

Volpe turns towards another.

“Reita, please make some clothes for us.”

The Kitsune nods, her eyes begin to glow a light green as do the stripes of her six tails. Mana explodes from her, it enters the ground. The grass begins to grow quickly, weaving around all the kitsune, crisscrossing, eventually forming a green dress around each of them.

As they become fully clothed in mere seconds, my mind finally begins to relax.

I’m going to need to figure this problem out, otherwise i'm going to get killed by naked women warriors or something just as absurd.

“Are you feeling better Patriarch?” she asks.

I nod, ”Much better. Thank you,” I say, my heartbeat slowing down to something approaching normal.

“Good, now undress.”

A small glint of anger rises in my mind at the order, but then it disappears just as fast when I remember all of their absurd levels compared to my own.

I unbuckle my robe and throw it back. It lands on Mule who does nothing but stand there like a statue the entire time. I do the same with my shirt.

___________________________

Volpe gazes strongly at the man as he removes his shirt which reveals a chiseled chest and dense muscles. Of course, such things do not interest her in the least. Kitsune, thanks to their rather long lifespans, will eventually outgrow lust based on looks.

She looks at his shoulders, finding the mark of a spider and the mark of a wolf. Two different gods out of the six marked.

Yeosa cares little for those marks. Instead, she grabs his shoulder and forces him to turn around which reveals two more marks. His upper back has a circle with several crisscrossing ones within.

But the lower back is what Volpe cares about most. A gray picture of a foxes back without tails. Normally, the tails would be from a kitsune which would finish the image, but a human does not have tails, thus it only ends at the tailbone.

“It seems to be her mark Yeosa.”

Yeosa touches the mark, tracing her finger along the edges of the image.

“It is not only her mark, it is her Divine Mark. The strongest a god can give, just like the one on his upper back,” Yeosa exclaims while pointing above.

Volpe can only nod in acknowledgment. Yeosa is a [Chancellor], a class dedicated to the gods. Her ability to sense the mark of the gods is one benefit of her class.

“It seems our goddess has planted the mark upon him but has not gifted her power yet. The reasoning is unclear, though my best guess would be regarding the other Divine Mark.”

“Two divine marks cannot be active at the same time?” Volpe asks.

Yeosa shrugs, “I do not know. I don't believe two divine marks have ever been on a single individual before. It is as good a guess as any.”

Volpe nods, her own hand now on the man, “what does this other Divine Mark do?”

Yeosa frowns, “It hides him from the world.”

“Ahhh, I see. That is why I could gleam nothing from him. Impressive then.”

The body wiggles, the man turns his head, his face showing annoyance.

“So, um, talking about gods and stuff is nice and all, but would it be better to take this somewhere else, like possibly your home. Instead of, you know, staring at my bare back in the middle of a forest.”

“Apologies,” Volpe says.

She turns to the others, all of which have been silently waiting and staring at the mans back, listening to the conversation between her and Yeosa.

“He is indeed the patriarch.”

A cheer is yelled as all the Kitsune begin walking towards the Patriarch, each putting their hands upon him.

“Oh come on, does it have to be now? Oy, no, don't grab there. Hey, wait, don't take that. Ow, someone just pinched me. Ahhh, don't grab my ass.”

The patriarch looks around, the women have him surrounded.

“Jessica, Zorren, help meeeeeee. Please. They’re so graaaabbbyyyyyyy.”

Volpe chuckles at the new patriarch as he fights away the swarms of hands. The Gejan named Zorren just stands annoyed while the human named Jessica is passed out hugging a very confused Fuyeko.

_________________________________

Shirt on and a cloak covering me, I follow Volpe with a small army of very grabby Kitsune, each one gazing strongly at me. Lovingly actually. Like some kind of obsessive cult. The worst part about it is that each and every one of them could probably beat me in a fair fight… and Volpe could probably rip my ass open in an unfair fight.

I shake my head as I look to Zorren who, as usual, looks annoyed. As for Jessica, she is being carried by mule. Apparently she passed out from being so happy that her collar was removed.

I'm going to need to make fun of her later over that…

I look around and find that the fog has grown rather thick. Unnaturally so.

“Volpe.”

“Yes Patriarch?”

“How much longer to your home?”

Volpe gives me a smile and waves her hand.

“We are here,” she answers before disappearing into the fog.

“Ok, fine. Be cryptic. Everyone seems to enjoy being cryptic for some reason. It would be so nice if I can get a nice direct answ-”

The fog disappears and a clearing with a massive glowing tree is revealed. The branches hover over the entire clearing with glowing fruit dangling from it. The whole area is illuminated and my senses tell me a lot of mana is being pumped into the fruit to create the light.

The tree has many holes throughout it with a main entrance at the very bottom… next to… “Volpe what the hell is that?” I ask.

Volpe chuckles while showing her sharp teeth, “An annoyance that has now been put to good use.”

I swallow my saliva at the sight. A glowing stone, clearly a dungeon stone that connects to the system. Nothing wrong with that. But on top of the stone is a sight to behold. A massive monster with at least a hundred eyes, all of which are blinking around. On its back are several crystal spikes that extend out into the air. My senses tell me that mana is being converged towards the crystals. A very large amount of mana.

But the monster cannot move. Dozens of roots from the tree have wrapped around and through the monster. Many roots have penetrated deep into the skin. These roots pulse every few seconds with mana.

[Advanced Analyze]

Animo, Guardian of the Fourth floor level 217

Animo is the fourth line of defense against those who wish to travel through the dungeon. This monster accels at using powerful mind attacks to manipulate and control the minds of others. Its eyes are adapted at seeing through objects and through the fog prevalent on the fourth floor. This monster, due to constant deaths, has been enhanced several times upon its creation.

Greater Enhanced Vision

Grand Mana Regeneration

Hardened Skeleton

Grand Fire resistance

Lightning Deflection

Grand Regeneration

Enhanced Intelligence

Grand Poison Resistance

Grand Magic Resistance

“Damn… you turned the boss of this floor into your own personal mana battery.”

Volpre shrugs, “I do not know what a battery is, but Animo here has been killed by us many times, although it had gotten stronger each time it returned. So as to avoid a future headache, we captured it and now drain all of its mana constantly while forcefully feeding it so as to keep it alive.”

I gaze at the monster and shiver at the sight of a massive root that had ripped through the cheeks and is secreting nutrients directly to the stomach.

I can't exactly blame them for what they are doing. I mean, they are trapped in a dungeon and cannot get out. Gotta survive somehow.

As I get closer, I begin to notice enchants carved into the roots- actually, they are carved into every piece of wood, including the tree. My senses tell me that a vast amount of mana is being transmitted through the trees and into the sky. The mana is pushing against the fog, keeping it back and creating what I can only believe to be a safe haven. Most of the monsters would probably avoid this place instinctually due to a lack of fog.

Volpe stops and waves inside the tree.

“The elder will want to speak with you. Please go in alone Patriarch. I will wait until you are done.”

I lift an eyebrow at her words but choose to follow her direction.

After all, I'm sure whatever is waiting for me inside can probably kill me just as easily as anything outside.

I step inside and all sound instantly disappears.

“Fuck my expectations.”