Time crawled at a sloth's pace for Vale.

It had been two weeks since Ximena was forced to use Crystal Prison, and he'd made little progress on that front. They did widen the hallway and tuck her away by the Dungeion Core, but that was all that happened.

Well, he also found a potential person to heal her… but it was even more unlikely to get their assistance than Salome.

Also… Vale was getting quite bored.

After they challenged and beat Level 7, which consisted of Emergent versions of the felines, plus snakes, and saw the terrifying jump in power to Level 8, there'd been nothing for him to do.

While Level 8 would have been easily beatable with Ximena… it was simply too risky without her. At the moment, at least.

'I feel bad for the others who had to do these Levels without having summoned two Demon Class…'

Not that he actually felt bad for them, they were all kind of dicks. But Vale would still be on Level 3 if not for his luck with Champions…

Actually, he'd more than likely be dead from the chameleons if he hadn't summoned who he did.

In any case, because he hadn't been able to attempt Levels, his increase in Aether had been slow.

Although…

[A challenger has entered the dungeon]

He did have a steady supply of both Aether and food for his Legion…

[Affiliated, Toy, has slain Nascent Aberrant]

[+1 Aether]

The beast population outside of the dungeon had skyrocketed. The weaker Aberrants were being forced to hide and often scurried into the dungeon by accident as stronger Mutants and Monsters began making the Terracotta Scar their home.

Then, there was also the occasional strongish beast which was lured by the Aether concentration within the dungeon, but it was nothing they couldn't handle. At least to this point, not a single Emergent Rank had shown up, nor a beast higher than Monster Class.

Though Vale couldn't deny his heart dropping a little every time the message rang in his ear, especially when multiple came at once. He was terrified that a situation like the one two weeks ago would happen again.

After all, if the guard was anyone but Salome or Mias… they'd most likely die instantly in the face of a terrible threat like that.

Thankfully, no more humans had shown up, and Ophelia didn't seem to have leaked their existence yet.

It was a little odd, but Vale wasn't going to curse good fortune.

Speaking of that girl, the Hero of Virtue, she was the one who Vale found had a healing power… She'd been healing those in the village performing 'miracles.'

Spurred by an irrational hope, Mias's assassination mission had changed to merely spying. It was a long shot, one that Vale highly doubted would ever happen, but maybe the girl could save Ximena.

Vale was a little delusional in that sense, but he wanted to keep his options on the table because he was seriously at his wits' end on how to save the poor girl.

Not to mention…

Vale had decided to attack the village one day. Soon, maybe, even. He was wary of Wrath's warning to stay hidden, but he'd already been discovered; his dungeon would be known to the world sooner rather than later.

Mias, half of him spending all his time in the village, had assessed the combat capabilities of everyone outside of Ophelia and had decreed them to be fairly weak and beatable with a little more training and beefing up the Legion.

Vale was doubtful he'd be able to convince Ophelia after that… at least ethically. But he was going to try and force her hand.

If he ever became 100% doubtful that even force would be able to cajole her, Vale would kill her and move on to looking for the next solution. But at this point in time, he was only 99% doubtful.

As for the Legion's current strength…

♥︎♥︎♥︎

Champions:

[Salome] [Ximena] [Mias]

♡♡♡

Workers: [30]

Warriors: [11]

Archers: [4]

Mages: [0]

♡♡♡

Affiliated:

[Toy] [Awilix]

♥︎♥︎♥︎

He'd amassed 30 workers, 26 of whom had been hard at work continuously scraping away at the blueprint Vale laid out, but none had risen to Bloomed Miner despite their tireless effort. Nor had any gained a Trait Vale hadn't seen before.

They'd completed the new core room, but for convenience, the core and throne remained in the logistical hub for now. The current focus was now the training room and the sleeping quarters.

Vale was magnanimous enough to give them some rest. Yet during that rest, they never seemed to sit still, having invented some game with the [Classic Football].

That useless gift seemed to be a recent fixation for the little ones.

'Once they complete the rest of their job… I think I'll reward them with the [Classic American Football].'

As for the fighters…

There were three different squads of five. One was led by Stacy, another by Alpha, and the third by Diana. Each was tasked with guarding different portions of the dungeon and having different skill sets.

Stacy's squad was the best in a straight-up confrontation. Diana's squad was the best at hit-and-run guerrilla tactics. And Alpha's squad was a mix of both.

All in all, their strength had actually grown to a level that was helpful. Their lives as fodder were in the past. Not only had their technical skills improved, but their overall power seemed to rise each time Vale consumed a shard.

Even individually, they showed promise as Toy and Awilix both started to struggle a teeny bit when sparring with them. Though they could still win with relative ease.

As for Toy, she was currently capped out on her Aether and trying to become Emergent, but the path seemed a little less straightforward than just filling it up and ranking up.

She needed to… "Find her essence," whatever that meant. Salome said some difficult-to-understand things from time to time. But, either way, whenever she ranks up, she will finally earn a Trait.

Speaking of Traits…

'She's finally figured out her Aspect.'

Toy had learned to read her Soul Scripture and discovered she had an Aspect called: [Featherweight].

Which, as implied, made her lighter. It wasn't all too good as an Aspect, in all honesty, as she got faster when lighter, but became physically weaker. She was also at the beginning stage of learning how to actually control her ability.

Next was Awilix, who was just a few Aether away from being capped out as well, being 289/300.

She'd also begun to get lessons from Salome on "Finding her essence." Even though Vale didn't have the best perspective to judge from, not even knowing what it meant, he could tell the cat was going to struggle mightily in the endeavor.

Salome herself was also making amazing progress, having capped her core 600/600. Although she did detail that something felt off about her body, like a string pulling on her core, holding her back.

Mias' hypothetical was that if their lives were all tied to the Dungeon Core, then it would make sense that the Dungeon Core must evolve to allow the others to evolve.

Meaning, Mias, Ximena, and Salome would be stuck at Nascent for as long as Vale was. Awilix and Toy could ascend because they were existences not directly tied to Vale. Theoretically, of course.

Finally, other than the frozen Ximena, there was Mias.

Mias had been given the majority of the Aether they collected for the simple fact that his power was split in half at the moment, and would remain so for the foreseeable future. So, despite being the latest addition, he had amassed a whopping 558/600 already.

He'd also been diligently scouting the area, measuring beast density, and looking for any dungeon neighbors. He'd even taken a peek over the gorge at the lands, opposite the direction the other half of him had already explored.

Lastly, there was Vale.

♥︎♥︎♥︎

Name: [Valentin Laurent]

Title: [Fifth Advent of Lust]

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Dungeon Class: [Vice]

Dungeon Core Rank: [Nascent]

♡♡♡

Aspect: [Lust]

Class: [Vice]

Core Rank: [Nascent] - (384/700)

♡♡♡

Aether: [26]

Satisfaction: [9]

Traits: [Rudimentary Shapeshifter] [Charm] [Ember of Lust]

♥︎♥︎♥︎

Having let Mias take most of the Aether instead of himself, Vale had to crack even 400.

However, he had made a few advancements in his understanding of [Rudimentary Shapershifter] and had even discovered a few new things about [Charm] and [Ember of Lust].

Mainly… Charm could be deactivated — kind of. And he learned what Ember of Lust did — at least some of its functions.

Not that Awilix would be released as a follower if he did release Charm, but Vale could halt his influence on his surroundings. He could make his words not convince and sway.

Although Lust and Ember of Lust still made those around him fall into temptation and desire him.

It was a bit useless of a realization, seeing as he had no real reason to ever turn it off.

'But it's cool knowing I can, I guess…'

As for Ember of Lust… he'd learned that it was its property that was responsible for the main effect of the aura of lust he exuded naturally. Another one was his gaze, which instilled and inflamed desire in those he looked upon. It also gave him a slight boost in stamina and vitality. Finally, it was the reason for his nullification of pain and resistance to factors when taking part in intimate acts.

Lust, his Aspect, which he thought had been responsible for all of these abilities, was more suited toward strengthening his Traits and body. Though he still didn't understand how or if it held a different ability…

There were definitely more hidden abilities and abilities to be unlocked, but those were his biggest realizations.

Also, he learned he could suppress Ember of Lust as well, which would dim the glow of his eyes, but it would also take away the benefits it gave. If he suppressed Charm simultaneously, he could even eliminate the glow in his eyes entirely and appear like a normal human.

However, the drawback would be the insane spike in his own urges during this time. Like his Traits were being aimed at himself.

As for only having 9 Satisfaction at the moment…

It took a little while for him and Salome to get back to business. Though when they did, Vale could feel a little more passion there.

No… that wasn't quite right.

'Purpose?'

Like… the deed was no longer just born out of the want of pleasure and Satisfaction… but for simply wanting to be intimate with one another.

'Maybe I'm just going crazy from all this boredom.'

After all, he knew he wasn't feeling love. 'Right?' That was impossible for him at the moment.

At the very least, he and Salome had grown closer — their little argument only helped them understand one another on a much deeper level than before.

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