The dungeon was clean. Too clean.

It was unsettling.

Reed walked through the corridor connecting the Core Chamber to Grika's Workshop. Usually, this hallway smelled of ozone and goblin sweat, with a light dusting of stone grit on the floor.

Now, it smelled of lavender and fear. The floor was polished to a mirror shine that squeaked when he walked.

Maira had been summoned less than twenty-four hours ago, and she had already terrified the dirt into submission.

"It's unnatural," Grika whispered from the shadows of her workshop.

Reed peeked inside. The goblin engineer was sitting at her workbench, looking miserable. She was wearing a new outfit Maira had "tailored" for her: a crisp, white apron over her usual leather straps and denim shreds. She looked like a mechanic who had been forced to work at a maid café.

"She made me organize my scrap pile, Boss," Grika hissed, pointing to a neatly stacked pyramid of rusted iron. "By alloy. It's sick."

"It's efficient," Maira's voice floated in from the hallway behind Reed.

Both Reed and Grika jumped.

The Demon Maid glided past them, a feather duster in one hand and a clipboard in the other. Her heels clicked with military precision.

"Efficiency maximizes output," Maira stated, adjusting her glasses. "And reduced clutter minimizes workplace accidents. I have also scheduled a Mandatory Deep Scrub for the Slime Unit at 1400 hours. Her residue is becoming… problematic."

From the Safe Room, a faint, terrified wobble could be heard.

Reed rubbed the back of his neck. "Maira, you're doing a great job. Really. But maybe… dial back the terror by like, ten percent? We're a dungeon, not a sterile lab."

Maira turned to him. Her amber eyes swept over him, lingering on his collar.

"Chaos breeds weakness, Master," she purred, stepping into his personal space. She reached out and straightened his lapel, her knuckles grazing his chest. "But if you prefer… messier methods, we can schedule a private disciplinary session later."

Reed flushed. "I—uh—I'll take the clean floors. Thanks."

Maira smirked, a small, dangerous expression, and clicked away down the hall to harass Seraphine about her shedding scales.

Reed exhaled. "Okay. We need a distraction. We need to expand."

He looked up.

The dungeon felt flat. It was just a series of rooms on a single plane. He felt a pressure in his head—an itch that wasn't on his skin, but in his spatial awareness. He wanted to go up.

[CONSTRUCTION UNLOCKED]

New Feature: Vertical Shaft / Chimney

Cost: 3 DM per 10 meters.

Purpose: Ventilation, light, aerial access.

"Verticality," Reed murmured. "That's what we're missing."

He walked back to the Core Chamber. The ceiling here arched high into the dark, but it stopped at solid rock.

He focused his mana.

Push.

The stone groaned. Dust drifted down (Maira would be furious). A spiraling shaft bored its way upward, twisting through the bedrock like a corkscrew. It punched through a layer of soil high above, creating a narrow, natural chimney that opened to the sky.

A thin beam of natural sunlight filtered down, hitting the Core. The crystal flared, drinking in the light.

[EXPANSION COMPLETE]

Vertical Access Established.

New Summon Template Unlocked:

[Harpy Scout – Riva]

Reed read the description.

[Harpy Scout – Riva]

Cost: 8 DM

Role: Aerial Scout / Skirmisher

Trait: [Wind Rider] – Gravity is a suggestion. Personal space is a myth.

Warning: High energy. High volume.

"A scout," Reed said. "Someone to see what's coming before it knocks on our door. And someone who can fly up that shaft."

"Another mouth to feed?" Grika asked, leaning against the doorframe, having discarded the apron the second Maira left.

"Another set of eyes," Reed corrected. "We're flying blind down here."

He selected the template.

[CONFIRM SUMMON: Riva]

Cost: 8 DM

Proceed? Y/N

"Proceed."

The wind hit them first.

It wasn't a gentle breeze. It was a cyclone. A vortex of air swirled in the center of the room, kicking up Maira's perfectly swept dust piles. Papers flew off Reed's desk (a rock slab). Luma's slime rippled like a disturbed pond.

In the center of the whirlwind, a light flickered—bright, frantic yellow and white.

SCREEE!

A shape shot out of the light like a bullet. It didn't land on the floor. It ricocheted off the wall, banked off a pillar, and then dive-bombed straight at Reed.

"Whoa!" Reed threw his arms up.

Impact.

He didn't get knocked down, but he got latched.

Something small, light, and incredibly sharp hit his chest. Talons—actual bird talons—dug into the shoulders of his coat. Wings battered his face, smelling of wind and wild ozone.

"Shiny!" a voice chirped right in his ear. "Shiny, shiny, shiny!"

The flapping stopped. Reed cracked one eye open.

Perched on his chest, gripping his shoulders with feet that looked dangerously sharp, was a girl.

She was small, petite and wiry, built like a hollow-boned bird. Her arms weren't arms; they were wings, covered in tawny and white feathers that transitioned into fingers at the joints. Her legs were human down to the mid-shin, where they turned into scaled, avian talons.

She was wearing a tunic that was essentially a poncho with the sides missing, offering a very generous view of her ribs, hips, and the fact that harpy anatomy didn't seem to include underwear.

Her face was heart-shaped, wild, and currently inches from his nose. Her eyes were wide, golden, and dilated. Her hair was a messy bird's nest of brown feathers and tangles.

She leaned in and sniffed him. Sniff. Sniff.

"You smell like the Rock!" she announced. "You are the Nest-Boss!"

"I'm Reed," he wheezed, trying not to wince as her talons tightened on his shoulders. "And you are digging into my trapezius."

"Perch!" she chirped. "You are the Perch!"

She scrambled up him. Before he could stop her, she had hopped from his chest to his shoulders, her talons gripping his coat, her thighs pressing against his ears. She sat on his head and shoulders like he was a tree branch, her wings spreading out for balance.

"High ground!" she crowed. "I see everything!"

Grika stared at the spectacle. "Boss, you have a bird on your head."

"I am aware," Reed said, his voice muffled by harpy thighs.

Riva leaned down, looking at Grika upside-down. Her messy hair flopped over Reed's eyes.

"Green-Ground-Thing!" Riva squawked. "You are short! I am tall!"

"I have a wrench that says I can bring you down," Grika threatened, reaching for her tool belt.

"No fighting!" Reed ordered, grabbing Riva's ankles to steady her. Her skin was warm and dry, like a bird's. "Riva, get down. We need to talk face to face."

"No!" she pouted, tightening her grip. She wrapped her wings around his head, creating a warm, feathery cocoon. "Warm here. Smell good. Like power. Like shiny."

She nuzzled the top of his head, purring. It was a vibrating sound that rattled his skull.

The door clicked open. Maira entered.

She stopped. She looked at the dust scattered by the wind. She looked at the feathers drifting in the air. She looked at the harpy nesting on her Master's head.

Maira's eye twitched.

"Vermin," she pronounced.

Riva hissed, fluffing her feathers up until she looked twice her size. "Shiny-Black-Thing! You smell like soap! Bad smell! No natural musk!"

"Get. Down," Maira ordered, her tail lashing.

Riva blew a raspberry. Then, with a flap of her wings, she launched herself off Reed's head, did a backflip, and landed perfectly on top of the Core crystal.

"My rock!" she claimed, spreading her wings over the pulsing gem.

"Don't scratch the Core!" Reed yelled.

"It's warm!" Riva cooed, rubbing her cheek against the faceted surface. "Vibrating. Nice."

She looked at Reed with hooded eyes.

"You vibrate too, Nest-Boss? Can I sit on you again?"

[MONSTER BOND – RIVA]

Role: Aerial Scout / Skirmisher

Loyalty: 10 (Imprinted on "The Shiny")

Trait: [No Fly Zone] – Doesn't understand personal space.

Trait: [Hoarder] – Likes shiny things (including the Avatar).

Reed rubbed his temples. "Okay. We have a bird. She's loud. She's messy. Maira, please don't kill her."

Maira was vibrating with suppressed rage, picking up a stray feather with two fingers like it was radioactive waste. "She sheds."

"She scouts," Reed corrected. "Riva!"

The harpy perked up. "Shiny?"

"See that hole?" Reed pointed to the new shaft in the ceiling. "I need you to fly up there. Look outside. Tell me what you see. But don't let the humans see you."

Riva tilted her head, bird-like. "Mission? Hunt?"

"Spy," Reed said. "Look for shiny metal men. Look for the town."

"Spy," she repeated. She grinned, sharp and wild. "I am the wind! I am the silent shadow!"

She launched herself from the crystal. She beat her wings once, twice—creating another dust storm—and shot up the shaft like a rocket.

"Silent shadow," Grika coughed, waving dust out of her face. "Right. She sounds like a bag of cats in a dryer."

Reed sat on his bed, closing his eyes.

"System, link visuals."

[SHARED SENSE: RIVA]

Connection: Active.

The world shifted.

Suddenly, Reed wasn't sitting in a cave. He was rushing upward, stone blurring past him.

Then—light.

Blinding, expansive sunlight.

He gasped. The view was incredible. He was soaring high above the rocky hillside. Below him, the entrance to his dungeon looked like a tiny crack in the earth.

Riva banked, the wind rushing in his ears. The sensation of flight was dizzying and euphoric.

"Pretty," Riva's thought echoed in his mind. "High. Mine."

She circled the hill, then dipped lower, skimming the treetops.

There it was. Stonebridge.

From this height, it looked like a toy set. He saw the river glittering like a silver ribbon. He saw the stone bridge arching over it. He saw the cluster of houses with thatched roofs, smoke rising from chimneys.

Riva's vision zoomed in—her [Eagle Eye] trait activating.

She focused on the town square.

There was activity near the Guild Hall. Reed saw a group of people gathering. Not F-rank rookies this time.

He saw polished steel. He saw a mage with a staff that glowed with actual power, not just a wooden stick. He saw a large man with a tower shield.

"Metal-Men," Riva chirped mentally. "Shiny. Want to steal."

"Don't steal," Reed projected back. "Just watch."

The group was checking their gear. They looked serious. Professional.

One of them—a woman with a longbow—looked up. She stared right at the spot in the sky where Riva was circling.

"Spotted," Riva thought, instantly folding her wings and dropping like a stone into the tree line.

The connection blurred as she wove through the branches, fast and reckless. She shot back toward the hillside, diving into the chimney shaft at breakneck speed.

The vision snapped back to the Core Chamber.

WHOOSH.

Riva exploded out of the shaft and landed directly on Reed again, knocking him flat on his back on the bed.

"Report!" she yelled, pinning his arms with her wings. Her face was flushed from the flight, her eyes wild with adrenaline.

"Get off him!" Maira snapped from the corner.

"No!" Riva hissed at the maid. She looked back at Reed. "I saw them! Shiny men! Big shields! Coming here!"

"A new party?" Reed asked, trying to sit up despite the harpy straddling his waist.

"Stronger," Riva nodded, her messy hair tickling his chin. "Not soft like the first ones. Hard. Sharp."

She leaned in, her beak-like nose bumping his.

"I did good?" she asked. Her voice dropped, becoming breathy and eager. "I did the spy?"

"You did good," Reed said. "Great job, Riva."

She shivered, pressing her body against his. The texture of her feathers was incredibly soft, contrasting with the hardness of her talons gripping the bedsheets.

"Reward," she demanded. "Preen me."

"Preen you?"

"Itches!" she whined, arching her back and spreading her wings wide, exposing the sensitive downy feathers under her arms and along her sides. "Wind tangles. Dust. Need smooth. Need Shiny Boss to fix it."

She grabbed his hand with her wing-fingers and placed it on her flank, just under her arm.

"Groom," she ordered.

Reed hesitated. Her skin was hot, her feathers vibrating with a low purr.

"Uh—"

"Just do it, Boss," Grika sighed from the doorway. "Or she's never going to shut up. Harpies go catatonic if you groom them right."

Reed sighed. He began to smooth the feathers along her side, untangling the wind-knots.

Riva gasped. Her eyes rolled back slightly. The tension left her body instantly, and she melted against him, turning into a boneless puddle of feathers and warmth.

"Yesss," she purred, a sound that vibrated straight through Reed's chest. "Right there. Good Nest-Boss. Good hands."

She began to emit a soft, rhythmic clicking sound—a harpy purr.

[DM GENERATION INCREASED]

Source: Intense Physical Euphoria (Riva).

Rate: +0.5 DM / minute.

Reed continued to stroke her feathers, finding a rhythmic motion that made her twitch happily. It was… surprisingly relaxing. Like petting a very large, very dangerous cat.

Maira watched from the corner, her duster twitching in agitation.

"Disgusting," the maid muttered, though she didn't intervene. "Absolutely unsanitary."

Seraphine slithered in, attracted by the noise. She looked at Reed, pinned under a blissed-out harpy.

"My Lord," the snake-knight said, tilting her head. "Is this… combat training?"

"Morale maintenance," Reed said, his voice strained. Riva had started drooling slightly on his shirt.

Seraphine's tail twitched. She looked at Riva, then at Reed.

"I also have scales that require polishing," she noted, her voice dropping to a sultry challenge. "If you are offering personal grooming services."

Reed looked at the ceiling.

"One at a time," he begged. "Please."

Riva just purred louder, digging her talons into the mattress, claiming her perch.

The dungeon pulsed. The new party was coming. But for now, Reed was trapped under a bird, supervised by a demon, and judged by a snake.

It was good to be the Boss.

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