Chapter 18: Chat In The Tunnel
"I just... you said that there are people who actually go out of their way to-"
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Izzy and Ulya just nodded as I asked that again, the sound of our boots echoing throughout the tunnel as we walked down towards Poltra's Cavern, where our source of money was going to be found alongside some experience for me to work with as I deepened my understanding of this new life of mine.
It was definitely feeling more real now, but there were parts that were simply not what I was expecting nor what I was completely able to believe in, like adventurers deciding that they would get their rocks off by having sex with monsters.
Though, the more I realized how diverse the people had been in my previous life when it came to kinks the more I found it to be something that sorta kinda made sense, if only because it was a combination of a few things.
The idea of there being no need for consent, the fur or scales or other parts that were definitely not 'human', all the things you could do without needing to worry about anything at all... of course people would find that arousing and of course they would do those things, but still...
"It's uncommon but not rare at all. Not too frowned upon by us adventurers either, but the citizens back at the city, the Nobility, anyone who doesn't live this dangerous life doesn't really understand it. The rationality is sort of clear; each day could be your last, so why bottle up your needs when there are convenient outlets all around you?"
It made sense, really, but at the same time the instinctual disgust I felt at that was evident as Izzy just nodded and added "Again, we don't frown upon it but most of us don't accept it either. What you do is your business, and as long as it doesn't affect me I don't give a damn. Stick to yourself with that and no one would bat an eye... but you would be judged."
"But still..."
Ulya chimed in a moment later, giving me a glimpse into it as she said "Even the ones who do have sex with monsters are rather tame anyways; slimes are the most common, and that's just because they're so... unintelligent? It's just gelatinous blobs moving around consuming whatever they can dissolve..."
"That's why slimes are actually so profitable to hunt. People harvest their 'corpses' and sell it off to lonely people who need something to stick their dick in. It's an incredible lubricant too; makes everything tingly and sensitive. The people who fuck them live though... it is quite the experience."
The Repitlekin ignored me when I stared at her pointedly, and Ulya just shrugged as she continued to walk just behind us, not offering anything else; again, it made sense, but still... who wanted to hear that and thought that it was normal..?
New world meant new 'normals' though, so I just moved past that and focused on our surroundings, getting a feel for where we were; the green stone was relatively 'clean', with no moss, lichen or whatever else growing on it, and there was little moisture in the air either, leaving everything dry and exposed.
The occasional chunk of some kind of opaque yellow crystal illuminated the tunnel, acting as the lighting for this place and guiding us down towards a well known area that apparently always had resources available inside of it, which brought out the next question from me.
"How are people still finding more goodies inside of this cavern? Hasn't it been picked clean already?"
We were still walking with no cavern in sight, so I just wanted to pass the time, and thankfully Izzy and Ulya were both nice enough mentors since they had no problem answering whatever query I had, be it about monster sex or this 'dungeon'.
"Do you feel the mana in the air around us, Tuzi? How different does it feel from outside?"
Answering my question with one of her own, Izzy continued to guide us downwards, though the Reptilekin glanced back at me as she waited for me to reply, staring at me for a moment as I took note of the atmosphere.
"It's... definitely more prevalent. Pricking at my skin and almost... palpable, kind of? But yes, it's stronger down here than it was outside. Does it like... crystalize into ore or something? Create monsters from nothing?"
She nodded, tapping her blade against her shoulder as she maintained her pace, saying "That's pretty much the gist of it. A lot of mana is within this mountain, so sometimes it needs to take physical form to allow even more mana to be generated. The old is replaced by the new, and so it turns into various ores, herbs, crystals or whatever else, becoming a container for itself so that the new mana can fill the air."
"And as for the monsters, they are created in a few ways. They can be born the same way we are, be it from monster on monster or monster on mortal, or they could be created from the mana as it takes a more drastic shape. The more common method is reproduction though, and that's why the monster population here is so controlled. If you were ever interested, the Guild even pays for adventurers to help bolster the monster population..."
I stumbled at that, tripping over my own feet and accidentally colliding with Ulya, who caught me and gave me a smirk as she leaned down and whispered "It only takes around two, three weeks, and honestly... it isn't that bad~!" before pushing me back into the middle with a slight twinkle in her eye.
Once more the conversation was brought back around towards sex with monsters, and now I had to wonder if there was a chance that Ulya had taken that job before, but we were saved by the sudden shift as the tunnel gave way to a gigantic clearing in the depths of the mountain, an entire ecosystem being revealed to us despite there being no sunlight or that much water down here to sustain life as I understood it.