Chapter 25: New Minions

After completing the level up procedure, Styx felt new memories emerging in his mind. They didn't feel out of place at all and were instead like they were there the entire time, he just didn't notice them.

Unlike all his other knowledge and scenes of the other world, this time there was a sense of identity associated with the memories. He didn't just see scenes, but recognized his "self" as being present at the same time, as if they were his personal experiences.

These memories weren't of some highly advanced civilization, but something far more ancient. Houses, pyramid temples and towns were made up of giant dark grey stone bricks or cobblestone cemented together.

Designs of pagan gods, who the temples were built in the honor of, were carved into stones. The civilization worshiped these gods, who brought the rain, the harvest, and the wrath of the heavens should their followers not fulfil their demands.

He was a priest whom communicated with the gods, sending them offerings while passing their decrees back down to the followers. He had many memories of life in this ancient place, but the final one left him confused.

Styx climbed atop the pyramid temple he presided of and prostrated before the statue of a god whose appearance was clouded. He mumbled several words and offered his prayers as per routine.

No, it wasn't just routine, there was something else as well. He simply couldn't remember what.

The next moment, all noises in the background vanished, even the birds and distant bugs. They lived in a clearing in a giant virgin forest, so silence was something that never existed.

There was then the sound of footsteps, bare feet softly tapping on stone and a mumble. Then all color vanished from the memory and everything had ended.

What occurred after that, or even during the event, was completely clouded and obscure. But Styx could still recognize the identity behind the footsteps.

A god.

His god.

~~~~~

"I'm back!" Therina called out cheerily as she returned to the dungeon.

Styx remained silent, but the elf could still feel the presence of his awareness as if by some kind of sixth sense, or perhaps something related to the piece of him inside of her.

Just in front of the young elven woman was what Styx had tasked her with collecting - minions.

To be precise, there were five elves with greyish tanned skin; four women and one male. They held black or very dark grey hair and all held nervous expressions.

He had been watching Therina's point of view constantly as he mapped the nearby forest onto a stone wall in the dungeon with her doing the exploration.

She had been hoping to find signs of one of the elven villages that used to trade goods with hers, or even them to notice and approach toward her, but she had no such luck. What she did find was several rogue stone elves who had been banished from their village.

Stone elves were a subspecies of dark elves that lived in underground cave systems and were usually referred to as just dark elves.

Due to their habitat naturally not providing the ability to grow grains, they had a mushroom based diet and could only bring in limited resources from the surface.

They didn't function well in direct sunlight, and prolonged exposure would even cause damage to their bodies. This led them to being one of the most secluded races and who very rarely interacted with the outside world.

Due to these limitations, they could only support so many elves in a village. When their consumption needs exceeded what they could produce, they would expel elves from the village. Those elves would then venture out and establish their own village, join one which could support them, or become wanderers.

These five dark elves had been outside during the night when they ran across Therina's camp. Seeing that there was food present, they snuck in and tried to ambush her with their daggers and spears.

Her mana senses naturally long detected them and following Styx's instructions, she quickly subdued and captured them. They spoke the common elvish tongue, so communication had been simple to establish.

Under Therina's promises and thinly veiled threats should they not submit, they agreed to join the dungeon, which would provide them food and a home in return for their services.

What they were required to do however, Therina would simply respond with that it would be explained once they go back.

Styx stared at the five beautiful elves, especially the four woman and had difficulty holding his lust back. Ever since he got the Lusty Dungeon title, his lust had been elevated, but not to such an extent.

"Take them to the holding rooms and explain their duties," Styx spoke into Therina's mind.

"Follow me," Therina said as she walked in front of the group who nervously followed her.

"Are you the dungeon lord?" The male dark elf asked somewhat trepidatiously.

"The dungeon lord is Styx, whom is also the dungeon itself. He is everywhere within the dungeon, but you will learn this once you can hear him."

All the dark elves visibly faltered in their step at this.

"And you said this will be a new home for us?" The shorter dark elven woman cautiously asked.

"Correct, this will be your new home."

"Can I change my decision?"

Therina instantly was menacingly holding one of her hunting daggers in her hand with a smile on her face.

"Of course."

The dark elves all understood the intention behind her holding her weapon and they felt their stomachs plummet. They had no doubt that Therina wouldn't even hesitate to slit their throats.

"From now on, you all belong to Styx. There is much for you to learn, and I personally hope you will become accustomed to your new role quickly. You will learn that this is the greatest opportunity of your life."

Therina was almost fanatic as she led them deeper into the dungeon and where the current residence area was. Each of the dark elves unenthusiastically chose a room of their own and were somewhat surprised by the internal design.

They weren't what they were used to, but they were clean and homely. Each one only had a few belongings which they placed in their rooms before following Therina to a larger public meeting and dining room.

The dark elves followed instruction and sat along a long bench as Therina explained the basic requirements of what was expected of them.

One of the dark elves, a woman with a grey streak of hair running through her ponytail, hesitated before asking, "Are we all expected to… breed monsters?"

Therina listened to Styx's voice in her head explaining things before repeating it to the dark elves.

"No, the male is not required to for obvious reasons, while Styx also doesn't wish to force anyone unwilling. Those who are willing however, will personally be looked after him to nurture their body and strength. You will all be required to accept a part of him inside you though, and any who refuse or fight back will be disposed of."

"But… the breeding, it's said to be an evil practice. We don't hear much from the world outside, but our former village still held records of it. And how it… consumes women."

"There is no need to be concerned, you will be cared for and healed. Styx does not allow his things to harmed in any way after all. You will also have your bodies nurtured and become much stronger."

Therina waled toward the woman who questioned the evilness of the breeding practice and grabbed onto one of her breasts. They were considerably larger than Therina's, who became somewhat jealous of the size as she squeezed on it inside her hand.

"And not to mention, it feels very, very good."

The male dark elf watched this closely with slightly conflicted emotions, especially once Therina released the embarrassed conservative elf's breast and turned to him.

"As a male, you will be required to mate with at least one of the females to impregnate and increase the population. They must be voluntary, but at least one of you must volunteer. You can freely discuss this among yourselves afterward."

That dark elf was now even more conflicted as he looked at the female dark elves.

Nobody refuted that a forced volunteer wasn't actually truly volunteering, a fact that seemed lost on Styx and now also Therina.

Of course, they were indeed free to refuse breeding monsters, but they would have to prove themselves useful in other ways.

"First, we are going to have you connected with Styx, so you can hear him, who will go first?"

Everyone appeared to be hesitant, so Therina ended up picking for them.

The first dark elf selected was the one who raised her concerns with dungeon breeding. She had waist length black hair tied in a ponytail with a streak of grey running through it. She was just a bit shorter than Therina, but had long, supple legs and a considerably larger breasts that filled out her tunic.

"What is your name?" Therina asked impassively.

"Rhea."

"No surname?"

"Outcasts have no surname."

"I see. Well, come lie down here."

Styx moved over a breeder in tandem with Therina's instructions, which caused Rhea to hesitate further.

"Why are these dark elves so timid? Is there something wrong with them?" Styx asked Therina, who could only shake her head softly.

"There will be no breeding going on at the moment and is only for your comfort. It will help you feel closer to Styx, and he will also help massage your muscles and help you relax. The procedure is not painful and instead is very pleasant, but you must be relaxed and without any resistance."

Rhea faintly nodded her head and cautiously made her way over to the breeder under the watchful and nervous gazes of the other dark elves. A quick glare from Therina made her quickly sit in it, but it did little to soothe her nerves.

Styx's tentacles extended from the breeder and gently wrapped around her body, some of them sneaking into her clothes as they moved about and massaged her taut muscles.

Rhea had never had a partner in her old village and was very conservative by nature, so this sudden intimate contact caused the stony colored skin on her face and especially her ears flush with a rose tint.

Styx's mana tendril extended toward Rhea and softly probed her mana network, an action which caused her to yelp and entire body to tense up.

"You need to relax your body and let him in," Therina calmly spoke as she watched the mana tendril caress over Rhea, even feeling a slight prick of jealousy over it.

"Y-yes… just, just give me a moment…"

Rhea fumbled her words as she took deep breathes and tried to relax her body.

She eventually relaxed and Styx's mana tendrils slipped inside of her mana network and quickly spread throughout her body. Styx immediately felt resistance within her that briefly tried to force him out, but managed to preserver as she calmed down again.

Rhea was feeling unlike she had ever felt before. With Styx's mana tendrils filling her, she felt like she was inside a very warm, intimate embrace. That sensation began to spread into her mind which she did her best to resist the instinctive urge to fight back at the sensation.

She then felt a faint buzzing in her head and her eyes turned blurry. It soon passed as she saw long, tendril threads of mana like the branches of a tree withdrawing from her and a new voice emerged in her mind.

"Can you hear me, Rhea?"

"Y-yes!" She responded in shock while turning her head as if to look for the source of the voice.

"Excellent, the second time truly is much easier than the first. Return to the others for now."

Rhea hurriedly straightened her clothes and returned to the other rogue dark elves, her face still flushed which didn't appear to be going away anytime soon.

The second elf was the shortest one.

She had straight dark grey, with an almost violet tint under the reflection of light, that reached half way down her narrow back. She was also flat-chested with a petite body that made her appear more youthful than the other dark elves.

She still looked like an adult though, and was in fact even older than Therina.

Her name was Elena, and whilst she was less embarrassed than Rhea, she still had the timidness that Styx had already attributed to their entire race.

Because she was basically flat-chested, Styx missed where to stop with his tentacles and begun massaging her breasts and erect nipples before he realized it. The lack of fat apparently made them very sensitive too, as she quickly squirmed in the chair and even lightly moaned before clamping her mouth shut, a small sound which nobody missed as their full attention had been on her.

Third and fourth were Klair and Kale, twin sisters by blood and cast out from their village together. Their facial features were relatively similar to one another with slender noses and grey eyes, but Klair had straight shoulder length gray hair, one side oddly longer than the other, while Kale had wavy black hair draped down her back.

After fondling Elena's petite breasts, Styx was truly feeling lusty. The two sisters were forced to endure a tentacle which would extend through their cleavage and slyly wrap around their breasts.

The final dark elf was Theo, who wasn't the only one who was reluctant.

"I refuse!" Styx simultaneously complained in the minds of Rhea, Elena, Klair and Kale. "I will not enter inside of a man!"

Therina helplessly sighed in response and pinched her brow.

"Isn't that a bit too prejudiced? How are you going to use him if that is the case? Are you not claiming him as yours?"

"I don't care; he is a man, and I will not enter a man." Styx attached himself to his stubbornness and outright stated his position. "Why would that mean I can't use him though? He is still mine."

"But you can't monitor him, nor talk to him."

Therina was eyeing Theo dangerously, whom wanted to cry injustice but couldn't find the courage to speak up.

"He will have a mate, she can pass on my orders to him if need. A point and click method will work too."

"Please don't use the point and click method," Therina protested weakly. "Whomever is his partner can also act as a guardian. Theo, you are not to leave the dungeon by yourself, do you understand?"

Theo faintly nodded his head, while Styx was oblivious to any potential issues of him escaping. He did not even consider that a possibility