The group continued onward in a random direction, fighting off occasional monsters along the way. Eventually, Cassis told Arianna over their private party chat that he had caught a whiff of that sickly-sweet scent he remembered from the other timeline. Without making it obvious, he subtly shifted their path a bit more to the left, guiding them closer.

It wasn't long before they stumbled upon the corpses of two tigerapes. Their positioning was... unmistakable.

"Did they die while mating?" Liam asked, sounding both disturbed and incredulous.

Arianna grimaced. That hadn't happened in the last timeline or maybe she just hadn't noticed it through the screen. She glanced at Cassis, but he shook his head, equally confused. Apparently, he hadn't seen this either.

Still, the scent told them they were on the right track. The others were visibly unsettled, yet curiosity pressed them forward. Soon, they spotted more monster corpses, all in similarly awkward poses—limbs tangled in torn, reddish vines.

"Were those first bodies wrapped in vines too?" Nadine murmured, uncertain.

No one answered. The only thing guiding them now was the scent and the growing unease.

Then they heard it. Odd, high-pitched screams ahead. Arianna shivered. They were close. Uneasy glances passed between the group, but no one suggested turning back.

Finally, a clearing appeared in front of them. They stopped, still hidden by trees and undergrowth. The clearing showed a scene nobody had thought was possible.

Silence fell like a weight. No one dared speak, even breathe too loudly. The stench was almost overwhelming now—cloying, rotting sweetness—and it made Arianna's nose twitch. Still, she held the sneeze back.

In the clearing, multiple monsters hung suspended by thick, glistening vines—vines that shimmered with a slimy sheen, more flesh than plant. Each vine originated from a cluster of bush-like bodies found in the clearing.

The monsters weren't just suspended—they were ... being invaded. Arianna's mind recoiled, but her eyes couldn't look away. She had known they would find this but seeing it on a screen and intellectually knowing about it, was different to having it happen in front of her.

As they watched, a rounded shape travelled through one of the vines, bulging grotesquely as it pushed its way inside one of the immobilized creatures amidst its screeches.

Helen finally found her voice, whispering hoarsely, "Are they… laying eggs inside the monsters?"

Camden gulped audibly. "So… tentacle porn is real now, too," he muttered.

Arianna's stomach cramped. She had seen all of this before. Back then she had just been 18. Of course, she had known of the existence of this kind of porn but seeing it in real had been disgusting. Cassis grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She squeezed back.

Liam, Luke, and Nadine were pale and silent, their eyes fixed on the grotesque display. They weren't just horrified. They were stunned. Helpless. These weren't normal enemies; they were nightmare fuel.

Meanwhile Cassis must have kept scanning the clearing. He said over their party chat. "Look a little to the right. Do you see that purple vine surrounded by bushes?"

Arianna and the others immediately looked at the spot. There, looping gracefully around the base of a tree, was the healing vine. Unlike the others, it was a deep violet with a faint blue glow. It didn't look slimy—just vibrant, healthy.

Arianna felt pulses of non-elemental mana rush out of it. It was like the soothing rhythm of a lullaby and the monsters closest to it weren't screaming. It looked like those monsters were in some kind of haze, but they didn't feel pain. So, as its name suggested it was pulsing healing mana for a certain radius.

She was fascinated by the healing vine. This would be very interesting to study and maybe even emulate as it seemed to be some kind of area healing effect. But Cassis' "damn" soon brought her back from her musings.

Looking at the healing vine's surroundings closer she understood. The healing vine was surrounded by seven bush-like forms. And those vines – tentacles – that came out of them writhed around the healing vine like they were dancing. It looked like an eery ritual was taking place as every bush moved its tentacles in exactly the same way at the same time. What were they doing? And more importantly how could they get to the vine if those seven bushes were keeping it in the middle like some kind of guards?

In the other timeline, the creatures had all been distracted, just like the ones further from the vine. They had been busy with … mating. There hadn't been any visible "guards" like these bushes. Back then, Cassis had simply stumbled upon this scene, sneaked in, grabbed the vine, and sprinted like hell.

Now, she wasn't sure it would be that easy. Just how were they supposed to get to the Healing Vine?

Arianna stared at the obscene spectacle in the clearing, her stomach twisting with every passing second. She didn't want to fight these things—no one in their right mind would—but it didn't look like they had a choice.

Over the party chat, they quietly shared thoughts and fears. Some wanted to leave immediately. Others believed it was manageable—barely. But they were all tempted. The others didn't know that they would get extra experience or rewards for sure, but they thought so. Every time they'd gone beyond the system's expectations, they'd been rewarded. She knew from the other timeline this wouldn't be any different. A title, a skill, a spell, a feature—something valuable always came with the risk.

And so, predictably, greed won out over fear.

They formulated a plan quickly. Helen, with her sneak skill, would go for the vine. The rest of them would create a distraction, which meant engaging those… things. Her stomach flipped again.

Before they could second-guess the plan, they acted.

They burst from the tree line into the clearing, yelling, brandishing weapons, trying to be as loud and aggressive as possible. Helen vanished from sight. There was no other way to describe it. Even with her Awareness feature as high as it was, Arianna had to focus hard to sense her presence.

The tentacles of the seven guard bushes reacted instantly. They weren't even vines, not really. Up close, they were far fleshier than plant-like, glistening wetly in the light. Some had pointed tips or bulbs at their ends, but others… others were flared and rounded, disturbingly phallic in design. Arianna's revulsion deepened with every second she looked at them.

She swung her mace with all the force she could muster. The tentacles were unpredictable, darting in and out, more interested in touching than hitting, more invasive than aggressive. One lashed toward her feet, and she had to stomp it down before it could coil around her ankle. Another grazed her arm—slimier than the rest, it left behind a viscous mucous that immediately began to tingle.

Her shirt started dissolving at that spot. Even the Body Reinforcement skill she had active there unravelled where the mucous had touched.

"What the hell…?" she gasped.

As if drawn to the exposed spot, several tentacles surged toward her arm. One slipped past her defence and began to wrap around her skin. The texture—slick, warm, pulsing—made her want to vomit.

She slammed her mace into it repeatedly, not caring that she was bruising and battering her own arm in the process. Anything to get it off.

It finally let go, and she staggered back in relief—only to have it snatched away again. A tentacle had wrapped around her ankle while she was blindly hitting the one on her arm in her panic. It yanked, hard.

She hit the ground with a gasp, her weapon still in her grasp but useless as she couldn't swing it in this position. Then they came—tentacles with dissolving slime, others with obscene shapes, all writhing toward her with disgusting intent.

"No, no, no!" she screamed, thrashing wildly. But there were too many. They didn't strike immediately but came closer slowly, wanting to explore, rather than hit. There was no thought of attacking, of using skills or spells. Just disgust, horror and blind panic.

And then—fire.

Flames erupted in front of her. Cassis' Flame Burst spell. Some of them scorched her, yes, but it didn't matter. The pain was grounding. Real. A short pain that she could heal.

Cassis had activated Blazing Body and probably fed it a lot more mana as his flames weren't just licking around his body but burning brightly. His fire blade also had roaring flames going as he cut through the advancing tentacles without hesitation. The flames licked across the clearing, setting some of the vines ablaze. He wasn't holding back anymore. This was not the time to be concerned for wildfires or to play it safe.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The monsters recoiled, shrinking back from the flames in obvious pain. Cassis pressed forward, clearing the tentacles away from her. Then helped her up, keeping the disgusting things at bay with his sword held in front of him. Similarly to her situation the other men stood around Nadine.

A message from Helen finally came through the party chat. "Get out. I've got it."

They didn't wait. None of them did.

The group ran like hell, crashing back into the jungle, not daring to look back.

They didn't speak. No jokes. No chatter. Just the sound of boots pounding on soil and hearts thudding in their chests.

They had the Healing Vine.

But they had all seen and felt things they would never forget.

They ran blindly, not stopping until the obscene corpses were well behind them and then some more. They didn't meet any monsters during their escape. Most monsters probably steered clear of this area.

Finally, when their lungs burned and their legs threatened to give out, they stopped in a small grove surrounded by thick brush.

Everyone was gasping for breath. A few collapsed to their knees.

Arianna joined them, weak in the knees, heart still hammering in her chest. That had been too close. Just remembering the slick, warm feel of the tentacle on her bare arm made her shudder in revulsion. She hugged herself tightly and tried to breathe through the wave of nausea.

When they had enough air to speak, the horror began to spill out of their mouths.

"That was… that was not a normal monster encounter," Liam muttered, voice hoarse.

"Yeah, no kidding," Camden said, crouched with his hands on his knees. "I'm gonna be having nightmares for weeks."

"What were those things?" Luke asked. "Some kind of parasite? Plant? Animal? A cursed hentai bush?"

"Don't joke about it," Nadine said sharply. "That wasn't funny. That was… it was violating."

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

"Did you see the way they moved?" Camden finally said, quieter now. "Like they weren't trying to kill us. Just... touch us. Wrap around us. Claim us."

"They went for the women first," Cassis added, more solemnly. He had come over to her and sat on his knees rubbing her back.

Arianna looked at Nadine. Her clothes were melted in several places. Just like her own. The dissolving slime. The invasive, clinging touch.

But it wasn't like the men got away clean either. Their clothing had also dissolved to some extent, there was some sticky residue, too—but far less. Arianna had a feeling that while the tentacles seemed to prefer women they would have also taken the men.

Nadine spoke again. "They targeted us first. On purpose. Like they could tell."

"Speaking of women…" Arianna said suddenly, her heart skipping a beat. "Where's Helen?"

"Here," came Helen's voice calmly from the shadows. "Don't worry."

She stepped into the clearing, as if emerging from nothing. Her usual composed demeanour was slightly cracked around the edges. "I stayed back to see what the fire would do to those things."

Her expression darkened. "It didn't last long."

"What do you mean?" Arianna asked, frowning.

Helen hesitated. Then she looked straight at them, visibly disturbed. "Some of those things… squirted some kind of liquid on the flames. The fire went out almost instantly."

The group stared at her, horrified.

"They're smart?" Camden asked, voice cracking.

"I don't know. Maybe instinctual. But it wasn't random." Helen's voice trembled slightly. "They reacted. They adapted. It's good I got the Healing Vine when I did."

Arianna swallowed hard. She couldn't even begin to imagine what would have happened if they'd stayed longer. If those things had gotten bolder.

Right then and there, she made herself a silent promise: I am never doing this objective again. No matter what the reward was, no matter what the system offered, it wasn't worth it.

Some things left stains no magic could heal.

Her skin still crawled. Her arm ached. Her mind kept replaying the moment she'd hit the ground and seen the tentacles descending on her. The warmth. The slime. The shapes.

She was already mentally scarred. Seeking comfort she turned to hug Cassis. His familiar scent and embrace helped her put those experiences away. At least for now.

The others seemed to feel the same. Nobody argued when they decided not to look for the gate anymore today. It was only afternoon, but they made camp on the spot.

Arianna summoned her water barrier, keeping it tight and strong around them. Even if they were far away from those monsters, she wouldn't chance it. She didn't want to see them ever again.

Next everyone got a round of healing though it didn't do anything for the slimy residue on them and the icky feeling in their hearts.

Without hesitation she got out some water bottles from her inventory. Everybody got one to clean themselves up. A real shower would have been better but at least she felt a bit cleaner afterwards. Nobody remarked that drinking water would be more valuable than washing if they didn't find the gate in the next few days, not even Cassis. This told her how disturbed everyone really was.

After cleaning themselves, they ate a silent meal—mechanical, joyless chewing just to fill their stomachs—and agreed to keep the same watch rotation as the night before.

Even before night fell, they retreated to their tents without a word. They wanted to be alone or at least alone with their significant other to deal with the mental damage this had dealt them.

Snuggling close to Cassis made her feel a little better but she still trembled every time she recalled that moment. Back then she hadn't been the hardened warrior she tried to be – the one she hoped she had actually become. She had just been a scared woman. She hadn't even considered what skills or spells she could use to her advantage, to fight them off.

Not even in the fight against the hobgoblin – the fight that had terrified her the most until now – had she felt something this horrible. Back then she had been helpless and would have died. But now she knew there were worse fates than dying. She shuddered again.

Cassis pulled her closer. He soothingly murmured to her. "It's ok. It's over." Arianna nodded as well as she could with her head squished against his chest. Then she told him. "We never encountered those things outside the dungeon. And even inside Rezon only that one time. I remember that some Rezon dungeons had had breaks in the other timeline. Why didn't those things come out?" She was so full of revulsion for them, she couldn't even name them.

Cassis thought for a moment and answered her. "I don't know. Usually once a party has killed the boss monster from the objective and gone outside, the timer for the break resets. But I've never heard of someone fighting a tentacle monster boss. And they also didn't follow us as soon as we left the clearing. Maybe they can't move from there. That would explain why they haven't taken over the dungeon yet. They're strong, and so many."

He sounded horrified and she couldn't blame him. It was better that others didn't encounter them. They'd have to write this down in their website in the basic knowledge section. She voiced this thought to Cassis and he wholeheartedly agreed.

Then, finally, she drifted to sleep.

Note: The part after the line is a bit spicy. If you don't want to read that skip to the end of the chapter. There is a short summary for you.

Arianna had fallen asleep quickly, but sometime later, she woke with a start. Her skin was slick with sweat, heat radiating from her body like she'd been wrapped in a fever. She kicked off her sleeping bag, but the sensation didn't ease.

Next to her, she noticed Cassis shifting restlessly. He, too, was trying to free himself from his sleeping bag, looking just as flushed and uncomfortable. Why was it so hot all of a sudden?

Sweat trickled down her neck, slipping between her breasts. She caught herself watching Cassis. A droplet slid from his jaw and disappeared beneath the collar of his shirt, taunting her. Her mind wandered—following its imagined path down his chest, across his abdomen, lower—

Her thoughts scattered as Cassis suddenly turned toward her. He reached out and gently took her chin, lifting her gaze to his. His eyes were intense, almost feverish.

"Don't look at me like that," he said, his voice a quiet rumble.

Arianna licked her lips, a slow smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Like what?"

He groaned softly, and before she could blink, he closed the distance between them.

Their lips met in a kiss that was nothing like the soft exchanges of the night before. This one was urgent and hungry—driven by something deeper, hotter. She opened her mouth to him, and his tongue slid in, claiming and exploring. One of his hands moved to the back of her head, holding her close, anchoring her as their kiss deepened.

Her body responded instantly, heat coiling low in her stomach. She moaned softly against his lips as their tongues tangled, their breaths growing heavier.

Nothing about this was sweet. Their tongues danced and she moaned. More heat was swivelling around in her body. She put on hand to his chest, caressing him there, making him moan. The other one went to his waist, under his shirt to stroke those tantalizing abs she had fantasized about. He groaned and held her even closer, his other hand wandering to her ass. He grabbed her upper leg and put it over his hip, then holding her there, slowly ground them together.

Their kiss ended and both of them were breathing hard. More heat went through her body. She moved for him again and their tongues duelled for dominance.

Then, with just a little bit of power, she swung her leg further and was suddenly sitting on top of him. He raised up his upper body and she started grinding against his lap where he was already hard. He took hold of her hips and thrust together with her.

But it wasn't enough. It was just too hot. Pausing their kissing she took off her shirt. Having had the same idea, he was also shirtless once she looked at him again.

They both moaned as they felt each other skin to skin when they went in for another kiss. The rhythm of their grinding never faltered. It got faster, more violent. They stopped kissing, panting heavily into each other.

Cassis took one hand away from her hips and started massaging her breast. Her hips buckled even more forcefully against him, and she moaned louder. "You're perfect. You fit just right into my hand. But try to be quiet. We don't want to wake the others." He complimented and cautioned her in one breath.

Then he lowered his head and used his mouth, licking and sucking. Trying to be quiet, she put one hand against her mouth. Tears of pleasure were pooling at the corners of her eyes. The other hand she put on his head. She didn't want him to stop.

Though this meant that she couldn't wildly buck against his groin anymore as he kept her suspended just above. She'd lose the delicious sensations on her breasts if she moved lower. Frustrated she ground her hips in the air. She needed more stimulation.

Seemingly understanding her silent plea, Cassis used his other hand to shimmy into her pants, past her underwear and stroke her there. Stroking, circling, sucking, staying quiet…

It all became too much, and she exploded with pleasure.

Then she sank back down against him. There was a short reprieve as she lay in his arms boneless.

But then she felt the heat again and let out a tortured groan. More, she needed more. Cassis was also still looking at her with hungry eyes.

He laid her flat on her back, spread her legs and settled over her, sucking and massaging again and renewing his efforts further down. Wanting – needing – to reciprocate she pushed her hands inside his pants and started stroking him.

She looked him directly in the eyes. Each move made their pleasure soar higher and higher. The heat inside and between them intensified. They moved against each other until they both climaxed at the same time.

Short summary: Arianna and Cassis woke up in the middle of the night, feeling hot and sweaty. They made out heavily without shirts but still pants on until they both had an orgasm.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.