18.1

Ascension was all I could think about since coming to this world. Finally, I had a second chance to find people I cared about and goals to reach. Kale wanted to restore her herd, Molly wanted to sample all the taur pussy, and Vraley had a missing person to find in this dungeon. The last one sounded sort of impossible at this rate.

From my inventory, I pulled free my staff. The dark wood and orange spiral of formations reminded me of a burning log. Holding my staff after integrating a dark spirit core felt different. I wanted the room to be a little warmer, and the temperature rose immediately. Spiritual energy pulsed from the head of my staff.

"You weren't this happy to be used before," I said, and more pulses greeted me.

"What's that for?" Molly asked.

I placed the butt of the staff on the ground and let it grow; in moments, roots sprouted from its base and ripped through the ground while the staff extended to attach itself to the ceiling. Once it had fully anchored itself, metal qi flowed from my hand, and the staff gained a shiny metallic sheen.

"If Kale wants to pole dance for us, she'll need a sturdy pole," I said.

I searched through my inventory, noting ingredients I took from sects years ago. There were candles and incense sticks filled to the brim with qi. Fruits filled with spiritual energy lined my inventory along with fish and herbs. But, of course, a few fish weren't the only things I've taken from the sects.

From deep within my inventory, I pulled free a bed that put even a Californian King to shame. It filled a good portion of the room. I eased Suki the orca mermaid onto it, and she tossed back her shoulder-length white hair. Her dark skin stood out even more amidst the white silk sheets of the cultivator King-sized bed.

The frog girl, Stacy, immediately hopped on the bed and started jumping. Penny, the slug girl, strained her slimy blonde hair; it seemed normal after straining the slime out. She moved, looked at the bed, and then back at me. Even her hopping frog girlfriend noticed.

"What's wrong? I thought you wanted to stick you slug dick in my pooper?" Stacy said.

"I do, but I don't want to ruin the bed," Penny said.

"I plan to leave it here when I'm done anyway," I said before getting back to work.

I folded out a table and placed a bowl on it. Then from my inventory, I filled the bowl with white and black pills. While the white pills would enhance my lifeforce, the black pills would increase my resistance to damage. So, both would technically extend my life. This had been Molly and Kale's plan, in the beginning, to make it more durable and long-lived. But I'm sure there was an upper limit, especially when monstergirls are milking it out of me.

Throughout the orgy, I planned to take the pills when needed to keep my stamina up. It needed to be near the bed for that reason. So long as I could restock, I could drain myself as many times as I liked. It was all a means to an end.

I felt a weight land on my back. "You mutt, get your unusually soft paws off of him," Lizzy said.

"I help prepare," Marie said.

Marie was a hellhound girl in heat. Her sentences were short because of it. I didn't know what she was like without her overwhelming horniness. Well, I hoped she was just as sweet.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? The dungeon is falling apart, and the dark lord is involved. If we were smart, we would run while we have a chance." Vraley said.

Vraley was a deertaur detective who originally came to this dungeon to search for the missing daughter of a merchant. Molly had me pick her up in a bar to feed her fetish for tuars.

"Normally, the saferoom would only last 9 hours at most, but with enough mana, that time limit can be extended. We should be safe if Red can gather a lot of mana with this orgy. Of course, that's if he doesn't use it all for the ritual." Molly said.

Kale was shaking even after her leg had healed; she wasn't recovered. That zombie had nearly maimed her for life.

She stared at me and licked her lips before she reached into her bag and pulled out 5 rainbow pills. "Red, I want you to have these. They're really rare and will help your ascension." Kale said.

Lizzy snatched one up and held it to her eye. "These are forbidden for a reason. Genital enhancement for males goes against the accords." Lizzy said.

Suki looked away. "I didn't see anything."

All eyes turned to Terra, who had turned her back on them to twirk on the staff-turned stripper pole. I snatched the pills up and tossed them back on the spot.

"Taking so many at once can be dangerous, so be careful," Terra said.

The mecha-girl shrugged. "The law was made to prevent a human male from gaining the power to control monstergirls. So that isn't an issue. Besides, 5 rainbow pills can't be that effective." Terra said.

While the pills slowly activated, I sat out a final table and, in a bowl, I placed shards of an eggshell. Each shard glowed to my spirit sense like a piece of a galaxy. A single shard of the great serpent's eggshell was more potent than nearly every item in my inventory. Once I consumed those pieces, they would act as a springboard shooting me into the nascent realm.

I also added the last of the god shard's blood and the cultivation pills into the bowl. When I started, I had to go all the way. A single misstep could stop my ascension.